Shadow Inferno
by Tiakaneko
Summary: An angel who got stuck on Earth starts her own Pokemon team of Fire and Dark types. Follow the story to find out how it all began...
1. Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder

Author's note: This is a story of my original character, Tia Rina, who will be appearing in **Katie Legends**'s fanfiction (**Emerald : The Legend of Hoenn II**) and I would like to thank her for that. Also, I'd like to thank **Black Murder Heavangelon** for helping me get the right info and facts for this story.

**Shadow Inferno**

Summary: Tia Rina, an angel from Heaven, likes to go down to Earth during her free time to be with her Pokemon. But her wings get burnt and can't fly back to Heaven. She had to stay on Earth while waiting for her wings to be healed but later decided she would just stay there longer. Just when she was about to leave back to Heaven, thinking she shouldn't be slacking off from work, she receives a mission from Celebi that makes her stay longer.

Chapter 1 – Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder

A 16-year-old girl sits under a tall, thin tree with a red guitar that has a black flaming design. Around her grows wild tall grass that might hide some dangerously wild Pokemon. There is also a large clump of grass and leaves in the tall grass, not very far from her. Playing a song without lyrics, she ignored the moving grass, showing that something is creeping in there. Moreover, there are three signs of movement, all from three different directions. The girl did nothing but continue her song. The creatures moved faster in the grass. Still no respond from the girl. Finally, three quick shadows jumped out of the grass, ready for a beastly ambush.

And the three figures bumped into each other.

An orange salamander with a burning tail has a yellow and orange chick and an echidna-like creature that can flare sharp flames on its back instead of sharp quills on top of him.

"Guys, you need to focus more on hearing if you can't see when you're hiding," said Tia Rina, stopping her song.

'Char…'

'Tor-chic!'

'Cyn…cyn-da-quil!'

The three Pokemon responded.

Tia Rina stands up. She is no ordinary human. In fact, she is not a human at all. She is an angel from the Heavens. She likes to come down to Earth whenever she has the time to do so.

She has shoulder-length layered black hair with red streaks tied up in a ponytail. She wears a long-sleeved red shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a pair of black jeans. On each of her shirt sleeves is an orange PokeBall design. Around her waist is a white jacket tied. Her black and white sport shoes matched her jeans and white backpack.

She leaned her guitar against the tree behind her and went to help the three Fire starter Pokemon up.

"Cinder, you were nearly there. You were quiet but you're still clueless about what's out there. Work on that hearing sensitivity. Fireworks, you still make a few sounds. Look ahead of you and be careful. And Pyro…" she said, walking towards the Charmander, "…work on that I-won't-get-the-tall-grass-catch-on-fire-again," pointing to the spreading fire behind him.

Tia started telling Pyro about holding his tail safe, in front. Pyro, not listening to his Trainer, panicked as the fire nearly reached the big clump of grass, also known as their secret base.

'CHARMANDER!'

Hearing Pyro's call, Tia finally noticed where the fire is heading. Cinder the Torchic and Fireworks the Cyndaquil had panicked too. Reaching for two buckets of water she had collected from the river nearby, (in case of fire, which is now) Tia then threw the water on the flames. As it sizzles, the four friends slumped down in relief for the fifth time this week, all after saving the base from catching Pyro's fire.

"Grr, c'mere you!" growled Tia and playfully did a noogie on Pyro's head, laughing.

Fireworks grinned slightly while Cinder giggled at her friends.

'Char! Char! Chaaar!'

After Tia released Pyro, the four relaxed, lying on the lush green and NOT ON FIRE short grass, curling up close to each other, staring at the sky.

"_Ah, great time for my mind to wander off to the past…"_ thought the female angel.

**Flashback**

**Tia flew over the Charific Valley located in the Johto region. She felt safe up in the air because no one would see her wings. She could see some orange spots in the valley occasionally and sometimes a great clan of Charizards altogether. Soon, Tia landed on the top of the valley to rest her wings as she un-summoned them. Breathing in the natural fresh air, she sighed to the wonderful feeling. Walking along the valley, the rough ground crunching under her sports shoes and a cracking sound was heard somewhere around her.**

**Ready to fly off anytime, Tia cautiously crept behind rocks and peeped to see what was causing the cracking sounds. She was surprised to see a lone Pokemon egg in the process of hatching. An orange claw shot out of the egg, breaking a large part of it, causing the egg pieces to crumble down and reveal a small Charmander with only a mere small flame on its tail. Tia could see that the Charmander is fragile enough to be on its own. Its parent should be there to look after the hatchling and nurture it. Since she couldn't see any Charmeleons or Charizards around, she went to the baby Pokemon and picked him up gently.**

**The little critter squeaked cutely as Tia smiled softly at him. Tia summoned her white wings and took off to the air with the Charmander cradled safely in her delicate arms. She circled the area a few times to locate any nearby adult Pokemon for the Charmander but couldn't spot any so she landed back on the valley.**

"**I'm sorry I can't find your parents…" the angel apologized.**

**She purposely left the Charmander and was relieved to see that he followed her.**

"**So I guess I'll be your adopted parent, huh?"**

'**Char-char..?'**

**The juvenile lizard, apparently knew nothing about what she had just said but Tia ignored the fact. She reached for a PokeBall from her front pocket of her white backpack and threw it to the Charmander who went inside the ball in a red light. The red and white ball moved from left to right, its middle glowing the same red as Charmander did and finally stopped. Tia went to pick up the PokeBall, smiling to herself.**

"**Welcome to your new life, Pyro…"**

**End of flashback**

Tia looks at her grown, energetic Pyro, four-months old, showing Cinder his Scary Face technique causing Cinder to sweat-drop. Fireworks, on the other hand, lay curled up, asleep, on her left. He had always been the quieter one…

**Flashback**

**Tia Rina and a month-old Pyro were walking in the forest of Route 32, going for a private picnic. A basket of food was in Tia's hands. Pyro stared at it longingly.**

"**Now, Pyro, if you want these, you'd better be patient. Now, go on, walk along, in front of me. I don't want you lost in these woods."**

'**Char!' obeyed Pyro.**

**They could hear Spearows and Pidgeys. They even saw a sleeping Hoothoot in a tree. Tia had to scold Pyro for almost burning the round bird with his tail because he had climbed the tree to see it closer. She placed her palm on her forehead,**

"**Sweet, dear, innocent little Pyro…" she sighed, shaking her head slowly.**

**A little while later, they saw a large, tall earthy tower with lots of caves and holes. Some were small, smaller than Pyro; some were as big as Tia and could be bigger. They awed in amazement.**

"**Whoa, that is…"**

'**Char-man-der…'**

"**Come on, let's sit somewhere near this… lair and we might actually see what kind of Pokemon live here."**

**Pyro stretched out a wide cloth for them to sit on with his clumsy small claws. Tia took out paper plates and cups, tuna sandwiches and a thermos bottle containing Pop Soda and arranged them neatly on the cloth.**

"**Sit, Pyro. Here, remember your manners, now," she told her Charmander, handing him a slice of triangle-shaped sandwich.**

'**Char-char-man-der!' replied Pyro with a happy face and happy fire on his tail, showing his emotion.**

"**Do you want to hear a story about my home, the Heaven?"**

**Pyro nodded eagerly.**

"**It's a very wonderful place… I teach the younger angels about our angelic powers, flying and such… There is a…"**

**As Tia told Pyro about her home, a small echidna Pokemon scuttled up to them quietly, trying to snatch one of the sandwiches.**

"…**and he finally managed to help her fly. Oh, there's when… eh?"**

**Pyro was confused to her reaction. He looked down to his plate to grab another sandwich, only to find it had disappeared just like Tia's.**

'**Char-man-der!' Pyro's tail began to fire up into large flames.**

"**Pyro! Stop that! You'll burn me! Look! And be quiet!" Tia pointed to the thief.**

**It had taken a few sandwiches in its short front limbs and one in its mouth. **

'**Char-char!' shouted Pyro angrily.**

"**Pyro…!" Tia growled, obviously annoyed, as she tried to pull his tail but let go of it immediately because of the heat from his fire, "Ouch…"**

'**Cyn-cyn! Cyn-da-quil!'**

**The Cyndaquil saw Pyro's anger and scurried away from him, heading towards the caves.**

'**Char-man-der! Char!'**

**Tia looked at the two fire Pokemon, circling around the tower of holes again and again until the Cyndaquil climbed and entered one of the holes. Pyro, in spite of gravitational force, could easily run up the steep slope for he was too angry to even care about scientific laws. He tried to get in but couldn't. The hole was too small for him. A minute later, two big shadows loomed over Pyro. He gulped and dared himself to look behind. Two adult Typhlosions with sharp glares in their eyes growled deeply at him. Tia had seen them come out of the big entrance of a cave, unnoticed by Pyro as he was too busy shouting at the small hole which the Cyndaquil went through. That particular Cyndaquil was in between his parents, sharp flames glowing on his back while his parents' fire blazed on the back of their necks.**

"**_This can't be good…!"_**

**Tia summoned her wings and flew up to the high ground to fetch Pyro.**

"**Sir! Madam! Please forgive my Charmander! He was just angry his food got stolen!"**

**The Typhlosions saw her wings and can sense the twilight energy on all over Tia so they let Pyro go. They turned to their child and started to get upset at him for stealing food from others, especially from an angel.**

'**Grr… Typh-lo-sion!' snarled the bigger male.**

**The Cyndaquil didn't look very sorry, though but returned the sandwiches to Pyro all the same. Pyro stared down at his food and then at Cyndaquil. He kindly offered to share with him. Cyndaquil, surprised, was grateful and muttered a shy "thanks" to Pyro.**

**Tia grinned at the two new friends, along with the pair of Typhlosions.**

"**Care to join us?" Tia asked the couple, "I have a lot more sandwiches enough for you two."**

**The Typhlosions joined her. After eating, Cyndaquil, whom Tia nicknamed Fireworks, felt much better. Pyro had shared his food with him and was now inviting him to play. Fireworks nervously accepted because he had never done this before. He used to like being alone but now he found out that he liked being with a friend even more.**

'**_Maybe he is a true friend for me…'_ thought Fireworks.**

**His parents, Tia called them Typhoon and Fiona, looked at their son, playing with his friend. They were talking to each other, which, of course Tia couldn't understand because her powers are limited and because she didn't want to interfere, so she just let them talk quietly.**

'**I've never seen him so satisfied before…' Fiona told her mate.**

'**He just needed a friend…' replied Typhoon.**

'**And he just found one. All thanks to the presence of the angel.'**

'**An angel for our son… Maybe it is fated so…'**

**A few hours later, Tia and Pyro had to go back to Violet City's Pokemon Center, where they're staying. They waved goodbye to the family of three and walked back through the forest.**

"**I promise we'll come back here tomorrow!" called Tia and Pyro jumped up happily.**

**Typhoon roared slightly as a reply and they all went back into the cave.**

**After four straight days of spending time with Fireworks's family, Tia and Pyro finally had to leave Johto and head back to Hoenn. Typhoon, Fiona and Fireworks were all sad they had to go. They watched her.**

"**I'm sorry, Fireworks… But I have a home back at Hoenn region, far away from here. I can't stay here forever."**

**As Tia summoned her wings to fly off with Pyro's PokeBall on her belt, Fireworks felt something in him. He then ran to her, tugging at her black jeans.**

"**Huh? What is it, Fireworks?"**

**He ran back to his parents and said something to them. Fiona gasped. Typhoon said something back to Fireworks and then to Fiona. She picked her little Cyndaquil, hugged him and walked to Tia. She handed Fireworks over to her. **

"**Wh-what…?"**

'**Typh-typh-lo-sion…' she said as she pushed Fireworks to her again.**

**Fireworks looked up to Tia.**

"**You… really want to follow me…?"**

**Fireworks nodded in response.**

"**And… you are willing to let him come with me…?"**

**Typhoon and Fiona nodded as well. Tia smiled an angelic smile. She took Fireworks from Fiona, put him down on the ground and with a PokeBall ready in her hand, she threw it at him. After the ball had stopped moving, she picked it up and clipped it on her belt just like Pyro's. She hugged both Typhoon and Fiona before leaving.**

"**I'll take care of him really well," she said with sincerity, "We'll try visiting you sometimes."**

**The Typhlosion couple purred and nuzzled her. She flapped her wings and flew away, heading towards Hoenn's Fortree City, waving her last wave to Fireworks's parents.**

**End of flashback**

She knew he missed his parents. Now, Cinder and two stray Rattatas are chasing Pyro in a game of tag. Cinder was one of Pokemon Researcher of Hoenn, Professor Birch's Torchics.

**Flashback**

**Tia was taking a walk on Route 101, watching some Poochyenas and Zigzagoons in the growing tall grass. She climbed up a tree to sit on the big branch and took two PokeBalls from her belt. A Charmander and a Cyndaquil formed out of the red light from the PokeBalls. Fireworks jumped onto Tia's lap while Pyro sat next to her.**

**Meanwhile, in Professor Birch's lab, a 15-year-old male Trainer was choosing an inexperienced Pokemon for him to start off a new team. He's called David. He has a skinny figure and dark eyes. He wore a T-shirt with a black torso and red sleeves and a pair of trousers of red and white halves. There were green PokeBall designs on the white half of the trousers. He had black shoes on, with a bit of red and green on them. He also had a white and green wristband on his left wrist and a Hoenn League cap, facing backwards, on his black hair.**

**He had decided on a Torchic to go with.**

"**Ah, so, Torchic it is," said Professor Birch.**

**He released the chick Pokemon for David to see. Torchic chirped and immediately panicked when she saw David and Professor Birch. **

"**What's wrong with him, Professor?"**

"**Her. Uh, I'm not sure what's wrong with her. Sorry."**

**Secretly, the Professor knew what was wrong.**

"**_I can't believe she's still panicking with males…"_ he thought.**

**David tried to hold her and calm her down but she scratched his hand and sprinted away from him, going through the front door.**

"**Hey! Watch her!" shouted Professor Birch's lab assistant.**

**The Torchic ran as fast as she could, away from the evils of male creatures. (A/N: I mean no offence to any guys reading this. Honestly, I wouldn't say that. Only Cinder thought so. She has androphobia.) She entered Route 101 and tried to hide in the grass. **

**Tia, Pyro and Fireworks had seen the young Torchic run in terror. They could see the shifting movements of the grass as the bird ran through it. A few seconds later, they heard a Zigzagoon's growl and were followed by a panicked blazing fire breath from Torchic. The poor burnt Zigzagoon was thrown up in the air because the Torchic had mercilessly slam into him when running away. Tia, Pyro and Fireworks sweat-dropped at the scene that just played in front of their eyes.**

"**I wonder what's chasing the Torchic..." wondered Tia as she watched the chick run.**

**At the exactly right time, an angry David and a worried Professor Birch came along the route, apparently searching for the escaped Torchic. Tia sensed shadow blinds from the person called David. She knew he was mad at the little Torchic.**

"**Uh-oh, guys, this boy is dangerous to the Torchic. We'd better go save it!"**

'**Quil!'**

'**Char!'**

"**Pyro, distract the teenager while Fireworks and I retrieve the Torchic. Got it?"**

'**Char-man-der!'**

**Tia brought Fireworks in her arms as she quietly flew away from Professor Birch and David. Pyro jumped down from the tree and purposely set the tall grass on fire with his tail. **

**When David saw the fire, he thought it was Torchic so he called out his Raichu.**

"**Raichu! Slam attack at that fire's direction!"**

**Pyro heard the command and hurriedly got out of the way. Raichu fell only a few centimetres away from Pyro. He saw Pyro and alerted his Trainer, jumping up and down.**

'**Rai-ai-ai!'**

**Pyro ran away and David saw that he wasn't a Torchic. Somehow, he got even angrier. Pyro didn't know that he hated Fire Pokemon started from when Torchic ran away from him. **

"**David, please! Let her go! I'll give you another Torchic some other day!"**

"**No! Let… me… show that Torchic who's boss!" David burst.**

"**Can't you at least release the innocent Charmander? It has nothing to do with this…"**

"**Yeah he does! He's a fire Pokemon, that's why! Raichu, follow the Charmander!"**

'**Rai?'**

**Pyro had made a close call. He managed to avoid the crazy Trainer.**

**Tia and Fireworks were still searching for the lost Torchic. They were in Route 104. Tia bent down to see if Torchic went into a messy scratched hole in a tree she had found. **

"**Torchic?"**

'**Tor-tor… chic!'**

**She saw Tia's angelic face and her ruffled down feathers began to smoothen again. Tia held out her hand to Torchic and she jumped on it.**

"**Fireworks! I found her!"**

'**Quil? Cyn-da-quil!'**

**He went over to his Trainer to check on the Torchic but she chirped loudly when he tried to come near.**

"**Wait. Fireworks, stop right where you are," ordered Tia, "I don't want any battles between you two."**

'**Cyn-da…!' he looked underestimated.**

"**Heh, you're right. I know you're too patient to fight her, sorry… but you are to stay there anyway."**

**Fireworks obeyed her. Tia cooed to the Torchic to calm down.**

"**Shh, relax… He wasn't going to hurt you…"**

'**Tor-tor-tor-chic!' she cried out loudly.**

**Naturally, a Pokemon would just treat Tia's Pokemon like it treats her as an angel.**

"**So what makes her think differently of Fireworks?" **

**She decided to use her angel powers. **

"**Torchic, you've got to let me read your mind for a while…" **

**She concentrated on the path to Torchic's mind and explored it. Immediately she found out about her phobia with men. Tia thought hard about fixing that until it hit her. **

**It was Pyro. He had run all the way to Route 104 and bumped into his own Trainer, shocking Torchic, who gave Pyro a Peck and a Scratch.**

'**Char…' Pyro covered his wound with his claws in pain.**

**Soon, David and his Raichu came with anger on their faces, Professor Birch still tagging along.**

'**Char-man-der!'**

'**Cyn-da-quil!'**

**They shouted at her Trainer to warn her about the furious David. She hurriedly told Fireworks and Pyro to follow her and they all hid in the thick forest. Tia put a finger on her lips, indicating the others should be quiet as David kept on bellowing, "Where is she? Where is she?" somewhere near them. **

'**Rai-ai-chu…' said Raichu slowly.**

**Raichu only told his Trainer to 'let the freakin' Torchic go…'. David growled as he glanced sharply at his electric mouse Pokemon.**

"**I'll get that thing once I see it next time!" he said as he gritted his teeth and turned away.**

'**I hope he never will…' sighed Raichu.**

"**_I hope he never will…"_ thought Professor Birch as he, David and his Raichu headed back towards the lab.**

**Once they had gone out of their sight, Tia, Pyro, Fireworks and the intimidated Torchic left their hiding spot.**

"**I can't bear leaving you to that… that monstrous human! Supposedly, he is darkened by the Blind Shados now… And that could also be dangerous."**

**Blind Shados is the first level of darkness that an angel can sense. These natures are of a dark entity, but the Shados isn't as strong in a younger human. It is rare to find one in an old person. **

**She took a PokeBall from her bag and tossed it at Torchic. She waited for her to stop moving the ball and when she did, Tia took the ball back.**

"**Good girl. Now, come on, you two. Get inside as well."**

**Tia then decided to name her new Torchic Cinder as she flew off.**

**End of flashback**

Tia feels proud of her three Pokemon. Fireworks has woken up. He yawned and stretched. He sees Pyro, Cinder and the Rattatas playing and he decides to just watch.

Author's note: Well, that's it for first chapter. I hope I'll be able to update the next chapter soon enough.


	2. Pokemon Day Care Center

Author's note : I would like to thank my friend **Himaru Keiichi** for letting me use his character in the story, as a Pokemon Breeder. He is based on his true personality.

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 2 – Pokemon Day Care Centre

Tia woke up on her soft bed in her secret base, her home on Earth. She sat up and stretched. She glanced at the three PokeBalls on her bedside table and talked to them,

"Good morning, guys."

Beams of red light shot from the balls and formed into a Cyndaquil, Torchic and Charmander who greeted their Trainer in their own language.

She smiled at them.

"Today's the day we pick Vagrant up from the Day Care. Can't wait to see her again, huh?"

The three Pokemon replied with excitement in their voices.

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Tia dressed in a different and special-looking outfit steps out of her secret base. She now wears a mini red top with a black-zipped collar. A white skirt is worn over her black rider shorts, a red PokeBall on each leg. Her skirt has a Fire and Dark-type symbols on her right and left pockets respectively. She also wears a pair of black long gloves with hard pink PokeBalls on each hand and red fingers and a pair of red boots with orange stripes and orange half-PokeBalls in front to match her orange PokeBall belt and headband.

She is ready with a white travelling backpack to go with. On the front pocket is her signature icon, the Fire and Dark-type symbols combined together as Tia expertises in training Fire and Dark-typed Pokemon, the Shadow Inferno icon.

Pyro now has a black and red wristband on his right arm while Cinder and Fireworks wear black neck collars; all of their accessories have the Shadow Inferno symbol.

Suddenly, a wild Linoone scurried at Tia, surprising her. It stops and shows her a Super Potion in its mouth.

"Liner! Don't scare me like that! Next time, make your visits less surprising…"

'Mm-hn!' he straightens his long body upwards and muffled an answer with the Super Potion still in his mouth.

"So, you got me another Super Potion, huh? You're such a kind Pokemon. Thanks, Liner," Tia takes the Super Potion from him and keeps it in her backpack.

'Li-noone!' he replied and scuttled away back into the tall grass.

Liner is just a wild Linoone who lives somewhere near Tia's base. He is usually found in the tall grass around the base. He likes Tia's personality so he presents her with every item he picked up anywhere he goes. He is loyal and listens to Tia's orders perfectly well. He is afraid of PokeBalls which explains why he is not in Tia's team.

"We are ready to leave!" said Tia to her Pokemon.

Tia decides to just walk to Route 117. People might see her wings if she flies. She let Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder walk with her.

The team reaches the end where they have to go right across the water to reach Mauville City.

"Oh, no, Liner didn't follow us today! He should be able to bring us to the other side… He must've had something else to do…"

"Hey, Tia Rina! Where's your usual Linoone that takes you across?" called out a voice.

"Hello, Perry… Well, he couldn't follow us today…" Tia answered to the Bird Keeper.

"How about my Pelipper giving you a short ride? It's really not a trouble…" Perry offered as he released his Pelipper, a white and blue pelican Pokemon.

"You'd do that? Oh, thank you, Perry…"

"Just helping a beautiful young lady in any way I can…" he said with a smile.

Tia smiles back and got onto his Pelipper with Pyro, not forgetting to keep his tail's fire safe. Pelipper then flies up and swoops down at Fireworks and Cinder, scooping them up with his large beak and brought them to the other side of Route 118. He flies back to his Trainer, who is giving Tia a thumb up.

"Thank you!"

Cinder attempted to sit on Fireworks's back and he flared his flames to get her off but quickly realized that she enjoys the fire so he arched his back, causing Cinder to fall.

'Tor-chiic!' she squawked as she fell.

'Hmph, Cyn-da-quil…'

Pyro went to help Cinder up. Fireworks didn't even stop to look at her.

"Sigh… Why must he be like this…?" Tia knows, however, that Cinder was just trying to be playful with him.

"Seems to me, your Torchic likes your fine handsome Cyndaquil there," said an old man to Tia.

Pyro's heart nearly stopped for a second when hearing the word "handsome" referred to Fireworks, who ignored him. Cinder heard what Mr Dent, the old man in charge of the Pokemon Day Care on Route 117, had said and actually blushed.

"You know what? Now that you've mentioned it, I do think someone's in love!" teased Tia.

The old man chuckles, "Vagrant's been a good girl, Tia."

"I'm glad to hear that."

All five walked to the Day Care together. Mr. Dent excused himself while he enters the Day Care. Suddenly, Tia heard a familiar masculine voice.

"Hey, it's Tia! She's back! Hi!"

An 18-year-old young man with dark-blond hair and dark-colored eyes greeted Tia with a peace sign. He wore a red bandana around his neck and a red overall-styled apron with a white PokeBall over his white shirt and blue jeans. He has red and white shoes too. His T-shirt sleeves are rolled up so that his biceps are noticeable.

"And with a great new outfit, too!" and he whistled.

Tia whirled around to see her friend, Himaru Keiichi. An excited Sneasel runs towards her.

"Vagrant! Kei!" Tia calls.

She kneeled down so that she could hug her Sneasel. The laughed happily as they reunited, Kei watching with a smile on him. Pyro, Cinder and Fireworks greeted Vagrant as well.

"Vagrant had been like Bones and Little Fang's big sister. They're fond of her," said Kei.

Tia raised an eyebrow, "Bones and Little Fang?"

"Houndour and Poochyena. Young. Their trainer, Jake left them here and didn't want them anymore. Let's sit down and I'll tell you what actually happened. The Pokemon can play inside the fence."

"Okay. Go on. Maybe you can go make friends with Bones and Little Fang," Tia urged Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder.

Vagrant excitedly showed them the way and Kei closed the fence so that the Pokemon in the Day Care wouldn't escape.

Tia and Kei sat back-to-back at the small pond nearby. Tia took off her boot and dipped her foot inside the calm water.

"Just 3 days ago, a Trainer, Jake came to the Day Care and left Bones and Little Fang. He claimed that he had just caught them. He's lazy to train them and so he came to us. Isaac was in charge at the time. He only managed to take in Jake's name. Jake hurriedly left and he called the Centre yesterday to say that he didn't want the "young Houndour and Poochyena anymore". He told us to just give them away to any Trainer who is interested."

"How awful… Why would Jake leave them just like that? It's unfair…"

"Life never is, Tia Rina…" Kei said softly.

"You're right Keiichi."

The two best friends leaned their heads against each other's and looked up to the sky. Different thoughts played in their minds.

"_It's good I can finally have freedom… Father just didn't understand my passion in keeping a Pokemon's happiness level…"_

"_I wonder how it is up there in Heaven right now…"_

"Hey, remember the time when you helped me in correcting Cinder's phobia of males?"

"Hahaha, yeah! How could I forget? It was hard!"

The two laughed together as they recalled the incident. That was when Tia first met Kei. She had asked for his help randomly, seeing as he is a Pokemon Breeder, who should be able to know how to deal with a troubled Pokemon. They became friends ever since.

Dylan and Maria, the two Triathletes come up to Kei and Tia.

"Hey, you two," they greeted.

"Dylan! Maria! Still in tip top shape, I see," Tia said.

"Of course, we are Triathletes!" they said proudly, "Anyway, Kei, Isaac and Lydia told you to groom Fred's Static and Charmaine's Bunny for them," and the two jogged off.

"What? Again? Yeesh, these guys are lazy!" Kei complained.

"Hey, need help? I could hang around if you'd like," offered Tia.

"Really? Thanks!"

Kei and Tia walks back to the Day Care. Kei gives Tia an overall-styled apron like his and a bandana and showed her the way to the store where they keep accessories, tools, food supplies and grooming items. He then leads the way to the field where the Pokemon are kept in care.

"Static! Bunny! Time for your grooming session!" he called.

Soon, a Manectric trotted at him while a small Whismur hopped over to him.

"Static, this kind lady is going to groom you and I'll groom Bunny. Tia, you know what to do."

'Ma-nec-tric!' he cried with a hint of electricity crackle in his voice.

Tia starts brushing Static's blue and yellow fur with extreme tenderness and care. During her previous visits to the Day Care, Kei had kindly taught her how to groom Pokemon. While Tia is busy grooming the Manectric, her Pokemon are playing happily around the big field.

"Well, Bones and Little Fang seem nice. Look, they're playing happily," Tia pointed out.

"They sure are," replied Kei. Suddenly, something struck Kei's mind, "Hey! Why don't YOU take Bones and Little Fang with you? Your team will be complete! Isn't that what you want, Tia? Bones and Little Fang are just perfect! You'll be a great Trainer for them!"

"Ah, are you serious?" she felt it unbelievable. The two canine Pokemon are someone else's Pokemon anyway.

"Yeah! I mean, you'll be the best choice there is! You're no stranger!"

"Oh, wow, thanks! I'd take really good care of them! I promise!"

"I know you will," Kei put an arm around her shoulders as the angel blushed and grinned.

Just as soon as Tia had finished grooming Static the Manectric, she went to her Pokemon.

"Vagrant, Fireworks, Cinder, Pyro! Guess what? I'm gonna take Bones and Little Fang in! They're gonna be in our team!"

Bones and Little Fang heard this and barked happily. They circled around Tia and licked her face a couple of times. Pyro and Cinder jumped along with them while Fireworks and Vagrant watched with smiles on their faces.

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"Well, Tia, show me Bones and Little Fang's improvement the next time I see you, okay?" Kei called out.

"I will!"

Tia waved at Kei. She walks; heading for the direction from where she had came from earlier today with a spectacular view of the sun setting right behind her.

* * *

Author's note : There will be more characters featured later on. Most of them will be based on real friends of mine in real life. Oh, and my brother, **Shun** who holds the character, David. 


	3. Grudge against the dragons

Author's note : Oh, yes... I made a simple mistake with Tia and Kei's ages. Tia is actually 16 in her human years while Kei is 18. This will not affect the story whatsoever. Thank you and please enjoy Chapter 3.

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 3 – Grudge against the dragons…

"Good morning, Kei. Isaac. Where's Lydia?" asked Tia.

"Good morning. You're early today."

"Hi. She's over there with her Roseraid," Kei showed her.

Lydia is sitting at the edge of the Day Care Center pond with her Roseraid, the evolution of Roselia. She has a white flower on top on her head while red and blue ones for the hands. Roseraid seemed as if she is wearing a leaf-themed cape and eye mask.

"Yeah, well, I just thought I'd come by," she turns to the door, "Come in, guys. There, wipe your feet now. Your manners, please," she referred to her Pokemon.

Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder, Vagrant, Little Fang and Bones do as they are told. Then, they all go through the back door, which leads to the field, making some noise as they do. Tia sighed and smiled at their naivety. Though, Vagrant is much more mature than the rest so Tia puts her trust on her to take care of the little ones.

"Oh, I see Bones and Little Fang are now wearing your Shadow Inferno symbols," Isaac pointed out.

Bones had a black, orange and red bandana tied on his left front limb while Little Fang wore a black neck collar like Fireworks's and Cinder's.

"Yup. They're officially on the team now," Tia said happily. "Hey, um, Kei. I'd like to go through the sandstorm on Route 111 today. May I borrow your Go-Goggles?"

"Oh, sure, go ahead. I rarely go out now anymore. You can have it."

"Thanks!"

An old lady comes out of a room in the Day Care Center. "Good morning, Tia. Would you like to have breakfast with us?" she asked kindly.

"Good morning, Mrs Dent. Well, I only had a small breakfast back at home, so I will accept your kind offer."

"Now there's a good girl…" Mrs Dent replied as she leads Tia to the dining room.

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'So what are we going to play today?' asked Pyro.

'Let's climb that large rock over there!' suggested Bones.

Everyone climb the rock and sit peacefully.

'Be careful, okay? Don't fall,' Vagrant advised them.

Little Fang walks to the edge of the rock and howled. Bones throws his head back, laughing. A vein popped on Little Fang's forehead as she twitched.

'You call that a howl, Little Fang?' Bones chuckled.

'Say that again, Bones…'

'I mean, that was a lousy howl! Don't you guys think so?' Bones asked the others.

Everyone else simply shrugged and made no comment. Little Fang growls and snaps her fangs at Bones. She charges at him and bites him hard on his black body. Bones yelps as Pyro, Cinder, Fireworks and especially, Vagrant receive a shock. Bones hangs his head down and stays quiet, Little Fang still getting a hold of him. Then, a glint appeared at the corner of Bones eyes.

'Hahaha, yes!' Little Fang cheered and she lets him go, jumping offs the rock and runs away.

Bones barked and he too, jumped off the rock and ran after Little Fang. The other four Pokemon on the rock sweat-dropped.

'What… just happened?' Cinder is confused. And so are Fireworks and Pyro.

Bones keeps snapping his jaws as he runs, biting anything that gets in his way; rocks, tree trunks and even harmless blooming flowers. Little Fang knew he would get into his Bite Frenzy mood whenever he is bitten.

'Oh no… He's got Bite Frenzy!' Vagrant said weakly.

Little Fang finally stops and lets him bite her back. In a second, they are friends again; no more anger. Vagrant, Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder get down from the rock and head for the two puppies, who are now rolling together playfully.

'So they're okay again…?' Fireworks asked Vagrant.

'Yeah… It's always been this way when I had stayed here…' she told him. 'Always making fun of her howl… That's her dream; to howl the perfect howl, she told me.'

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"Wow, this looks great! Who cooked these?"

There are scrambled eggs, sausages and baked beans served along with fresh orange juice on the table.

"Guess who did?" Lydia said mysteriously.

"Umm, is it Isaac? If he did, it'd be a miracle when I say delicious!" she laughed as everyone else did, too.

"Heh, it's me!" Kei said.

"You could cook? I didn't know that before… Let's see if I like it…"

Tia took a spoonful of scrambled eggs and tried it.

"Delicious!"

"But really, they're not that hard to make… It's quite a simple recipe…"

"Maybe…but not all 17-year-old guys could even try cooking and make it to the 'delicious' level on their first try!" Lydia told them truthfully.

Kei scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, hearing the compliments.

"Hey, then I want to try cooking someday, too!" Isaac jumped in.

"No!" everyone said at the same time, their faces looking aghast.

Isaac sweat-dropped. "A guy can dream, can he…?"

"Not you with cooking, no," Lydia joked and everyone laughed again.

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After breakfast, Tia leaves for her journey to Route 111, thanking them for the breakfast again.

"Be careful now, Tia. I hear there are strong Pokemon there," Kei told her with concern.

"Really? Like what? Where did you hear about this?"

"From TV. It was all over the news. And I don't know what exactly… but we have heard that they were dragons and there were two of them. They were never seen wild on Route 111 before, though. So, I find it weird," he added.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm gonna find out."

"But, Tia, your Pokemon are still in-training! What if you actually encounter them? You'll lose the battle. Maybe even your life!"

"Kei, I won't go into details, but I know I have to go there…"

Kei only keeps quiet. Tia wants to go there because she somehow had a feeling that she must. Besides, she just had a dream last night, showing that she was walking in the strong sandstorm, as if she was looking for something. She turns and leaves.

"_I had always felt something unusual about her..." _thought Kei to himself.

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After climbing up the large boulder in her way, she sees a female reporter and a male cameraman walking to her.

"Um, can I help you?" Tia asked nervously, especially when the camera is brought quite near to her.

"I'm Gabby and this is Ty. What is your name? Tell us about yourself."

"Tia Rina. My party specializes in Fire and Dark types. We're the Shadow Inferno."

"So, tell me, Tia Rina… Have you heard about the new 'strong' Pokemon seen on Route 111? In the sandstorm, they say."

"Yes, I did, from a friend. Who actually saw these Pokemon, Gabby?"

"A Dragon Tamer. Never got his name, right, Ty? All I remember is the smell of terrible rotten flesh and I could've sworn it came from him. He came running out from the desert, like, out of nowhere! He was all panicked and told us about seeing stray dragons in the sandstorm. And right after that, no one ever saw him again… Was he taken by these Dragon Pokemon? Has this particular Dragon Tamer failed to tame the dragons and lost his life to them? For now, it is still a mystery…" Gabby is talking to both Tia and the camera.

"……"

"Tia, are you going in there? Into the desert? Tia… Tia Rina! Hey, wait!"

She is going to find out and solve the mystery, Tia decides. That is, if she comes back alive…

"Ladies and gentlemen, this brave young woman is about to enter death zone! These so-called Dragon Pokemon are scaring the citizens of Mauville, Verdanturf, Lavaridge and Fallarbor. And Tia Rina is going right straight into their place! That would be all for today's newsflash. I'm Gabby, with my cameraman, Ty. Cut."

Tia is now releasing all of her 6 Pokemon.

"I know you guys are still in training. But I need backup. In case something happens to me, any of you, get help from anyone nearby. I don't care who," Tia told them strictly.

They nodded. Tia takes out Kei's Go-Goggles and wears it over her eyes. Her Pokemon too had been given appropriate goggles to wear.

Tia walks in, trying to stay calm. She knows she'd seen this exact view before. In her dreams, last night. She feels like she knows where to go and what to do. Her Pokemon follow behind with uncertainty. Their Trainer looks dazed with her empty-looking face as she walks without really focusing. Suddenly, in a snap, she looks awoken and jumps to her left, hiding behind a large rock, her team following suit. The creature Tia is hiding from is stomping hard on the soft sandy ground.

"_A Salamence? They're not supposed to be here... Is there another one, as said?" _she waited for the other dragon.

'Char-man-der!'

Tia turns around and jumped away as a green and red dragon hits the rock behind her, breaking it. She would've gotten slashed if Pyro hadn't alerted her.

"_It's the other dragon!"_

The Flygon attempts for another Dragon Claw at her, its claws shining. Vagrant thought fast and used Icy Wind on Flygon. Tia gets up and tells the rest to stay close to her.

"Beat Up!" she commanded.

All party Pokemon arranged themselves and join in the attack. Salamence now notices Tia and her team and uses Rage on all seven. Flygon is now free from Shadow Inferno's attacks and flies up high. Tia groaned and opened her eyes. She realizes something.

"All Fire! Flame at Salamence's feet! On the sand! Vagrant and Little Fang, Slash and Bite Salamence's wings once it's down!"

Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder and Bones use their strongest Fire attacks and flame at Salamence's base without hesitation.

"Vagrant, turn this Sandstorm into Hail!"

Vagrant seems as if she is calling for something in the sky and the raging sandstorm around them turns to an icy hail, the sky changing. The Flygon, who thought it would be safe up in the air got hit by the sharpened ice and fell down, more ice shards falling onto it, thus hurting it.

Meanwhile, the sand at Salamence's feet are now melting and later turns to a shiny and slippery-looking floor which is glass. Salamence slips and falls hard on the glass. It breaks and the sharp ends of the broken glass pierce Salamence's body.

"Amazing! It worked!" Tia shouts in amazement.

Vagrant turns away from the fallen Flygon and runs to the Salamence to attack its wings. She slashes madly with her sharp claws while Little Fang bites with her big fangs. Bones had climbed up onto Salamence and joins Little Fang's Bite attack.

Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder takes advantage of Flygon's takedown and used Flamethrower on it. Flygon cries shrilly as it is being attacked with hot flames. Its partner, Salamence tries slowly to move but is badly hurt by the glass under it and by the falling ice too. Vagrant, Bones and Little Fang ignore the slight movement of the large blue dragon and keep attacking furiously.

"We keep this on, and we'll win!" Tia said confidently.

A sudden Rage of Salamence causes her to change that thought. It roars and throws the three Pokemon off its back. Luckily, they do not hit the glass but land on the soft sand instead. Pieces of glass shards are still stuck on Salamence's under body.

"What? No!"

Pyro and Cinder gets distracted and looks behind to see about the deafening roar. Fireworks keeps his Flamethrower attack on, his back flaring intensely. Flygon could not stop wailing.

"Pyro! Cinder! Concentrate! We'll take care of this one!" Tia orders.

They turn back to the burning Flygon and continue burning it. Tia summons her wings and flies up. The standing Salamence flaps its red wings and lifts itself up from the ground. Tia flies far up to taunt the Salamence to come up. Vagrant helps Bones and Little Fang get back on their feet.

'Guys, get out of the way for now! Ice Beam!' Vagrant yells at Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder.

They jump aside, giving Vagrant a chance to shoot out a freezing cold beam from her mouth at Flygon. Tia is now being chased by Salamence in the air, avoiding the ice hail as she flies. Salamence opens its mouth and charged a Dragonbreath. Bright light formed at Salamence's mouth and it fires straight at Tia.

"Argh!"

Team Shadow Inferno is horror-struck. They watched their Trainer fall from the sky, her wings burning. She falls on the almost-ice-covered ground below her, a small cloud of sand flying around. All her Pokemon run to her.

'Here! Get this piece of ice on her!' Fireworks instructs Pyro.

Pyro grabbed a piece of large ice shard lying near and puts in on Tia's burning wings. It melted immediately. The rest of the team continue covering Tia with ice to soothe the burning pain on her back. The attacking Salamence flies down. Even the Flygon had somehow survived the extreme heat it had received before.

Flygon uses Sand Tomb on the off-guarded Shadow Inferno, seeing as they are all in one spot. A wide quicksand forms around them, swallowing them all.

"No! One of you must get help!" Tia groaned.

Vagrant springs herself out of the deep hole, clawing at the sand wall, trying to get out. She actually escapes and quickly ran out of the desert that is almost turning to a snow desert. Luckily, the two dragons did not see Vagrant's escape. Little does she know there is someone else who did?

He stands on top of the mountains that surrounded the desert of Route 111, smirking at Tia and her Pokemon, being devoured by the quicksand.

* * *

Author's note : Who is this mystery man? What does he want from Tia Rina? Will Vagrant be able to get help in time? Find out in the next chapter! 


	4. Devil Creeds and Twilight Angels

Author's note : Thanks to my best friends, Natsuki (Naomi Summer) and Hikakenai (Edward Kreuger) for their OCs, based on their true personalities as I had said before.

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 4 – Devil Creeds and Twilight Angels

Tia and her team struggle to get out of the deep quicksand.

"Come out here, you coward! Show me your face! You planned this all along, didn't you?" she suddenly yelled; as hard as she could.

A Dragon Tamer in his usual purple and yellow outfit glides down from the mountain using his large bat-like wings on his back. Though, there are a couple of differences about his outfit; instead of a red cape, his is black in colour and there seems to be a black serpent dragon coiled up into an 'S' on his right chest. And he smells like rotten flesh.

"So you had sensed my energy and came here..." he said with no tone of surprise at all, as if he had expected her.

"I've heard of you Devil Creeds… The angel you're trying to take revenge on is no longer here. He died, giving your human his wings!" Tia said to him, still trying to escape the quicksand.

"I'm not after the angel…" he answered, "I'm after my human body! I'm sick of this! I was forced to fend for myself when I was physically ripped out of his body! I had to make my own body using dead matters!

"And sure enough, those were all that Twilight Angel's fault! But he deserved what he received! And now, it should be the human's turn to die!"

"Hello, what about me? I don't get it. I play no part in this. I don't even know your original host."

"All of you Twilight Angels are just the same! One day you'll give your wings to a human, too! And causes the newborn Devil Creed to suffer, just like I did! I can't let that happen."

He knees down to cup her face with his hand and brings his face near hers, "Now, you will die too, my angel…" he said as he snickered.

The smell of rotting flesh that came from him nearly made her gag. Her body is completely buried inside the sand, leaving only her head. So are her Pokemon. Tia shakes her head from side to side.

"Get your filthy hand off me!" she snarled.

He lets go of her and stands up again. He brings out an arm, indicating something to Flygon. Tia and her team suddenly feel being tugged under. A few seconds later, they are brought back up again; all gasping for air and spluttering sand.

"Now you see how utterly powerful I can be!"

"Only with your badly-trained Pokemon! You won't be able to do this to me without them!"

"That is why I stole them. I need someone to accompany me on my mission, don't I?"

"You STOLE them? Oh, you… you…" Tia is speechless. What else is he capable of doing?

"Yes, I did. And they will soon turn to Shadow Pokemon and stay under my commands forever!"

Flygon's Sand Tomb has ended. The quicksand has stopped. Tia tried to pull herself up, kicking her legs hard. She managed to get out of the sand but in pain; her wings are still hurting her. The fire that burned them had spread a bit onto her back, tearing off her skin. All of her Pokemon had managed to free themselves out of the sand before her. They surrounded her, trying to comfort their Trainer.

"Revenge… is not the best way…" Tia panted.

The devil being swishes his cape and balled his fists tightly.

"Then what else is? There will be only one Benen Lakemine Vangurle! And that's me!" he growled angrily. "You don't know how painful it is to be forced out of a body I had lived with for 11 years!"

Tia keeps quiet. The Devil Creed holds out his arm again.

"Salamence, Flygon… Hyper Beam," he said firmly.

Tia shuts her eyes tight and prayed for a miracle under her breath. Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder, Bones and Little Fang closed in to Tia, preparing for the powerful attack.

"Aurora Beam!" a voice calls out and a whitish-blue, almost rainbow-coloured beam shot out from the desert's entrance route.

"_That voice! Kei! Good job, Vagrant!"_ Tia shouted happily in her mind.

She then realizes something. Quickly, but with much difficulty, she retreats what was left of her wings back into her body. She can still feel the burning heat on her back, even inside her.

Soon after her wings are put out of sight, Kei appears on his flying Dragonite. His Dewgong comes sliding on the icy path that had been caused by Vagrant's Hail. Behind him come Vagrant and a teenage girl and guy, running towards her.

The girl has short, brown hair. Her outfit consists of a tucked in plain white T-shirt underneath a purple and blue vest and a pair of black baggy three-quarter pants. On her right wrist are 5 black ringed bracelets. Her sport shoes are black and white in colour. On her white pockets are some sort of symbol; an eye with a tear hanging from it. A Squirtle, Totodile and Mudkip are tagging along behind her.

The guy is a skinny and tall person, with spiky black hair and rimless spectacles. He wears a brown buttoned T-shirt with white short sleeves and collar over a bright green long-sleeved shirt. His pants are black and white in halves; a red and white PokeBall each on the black halves. His shoes are plain dark brown. A leaf shaped badge with a fist on it is pinned onto his shirt's front pocket. A Bulbasaur, Chikorita and Treecko run along beside him.

She had seen them earlier while she was on the way to the desert. The two teenagers reached Tia as Kei battles the Salamence and Flygon.

"Ah, Benen…!" Tia rolled over to see him but found out that he isn't there anymore.

"What are you talking about? No one's there! She's in a critical condition, Edward," the girl said.

"No, I'm not! I just got burned on my back, that's all! Nothing affected my brain!" Tia protested.

"Oh, look, she's not crazy, Naomi," the guy called Edward said to his friend.

Salamence and Flygon only evaded Dragonite and Dewgong's attacks. Finally, they fly away, acting like nothing ever happened; despite the darkened scales of Flygon's body due to extreme heat and glass shards sticking out from Salamence's under body. Kei jumps down from Dragonite and runs over to check on Tia.

"How is she? What about her Pokemon? Are you okay, Tia? What happened? Who's behind all this?" he asked all in one breath.

Clearly he is worried about his best friend. Tia's back is raw red, the flesh underneath is revealed.

"Kei, check on Shadow Inferno for me. As for me, just give me some ointment and some bandages to cover these and I'll be alright. Trust me."

"You heard the doctor -and patient-, come on, let's get moving!" Edward said.

Kei instructs his Dragonite to carry her, without touching her burnt back, to Naomi's home, which is the nearest place they could go to for now. Kei got onto Dragonite's back, with Edward behind him and Naomi behind Edward.

Once they reach Naomi's house in Lavaridge Town, Tia is brought to a room which seems to be Naomi's for there are a few of the same symbol on her pockets in the room. The young brunette hands the injured angel a roll of bandages and a bottle of healing ointment.

"Thanks, err, Naomi."

She smiles and gave her a thumbs up. Tia closes the door behind her and locks it. She goes over to the full-body mirror to check on the damage done to her body.

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Kei gives each Shadow Inferno member a quick check-up and gave them rests. Naomi and Edward only watch him.

"I'm sorry I ran just when you two came at the Day Care… but Tia's safety is important to me. She's my best friend," Kei explains to them.

"It's understandable. Don't worry about it, Keiichi. I would've done the same thing if Naomi here gets in danger," Edward said as he pointed to Naomi next to him with a thumb.

"Hmph, will you stop all this, Edward? You always say this stuff like you love me! Blegh!" she stuck out her tongue.

Edward only rubbed the back of his head, cocking. Inside his mind, though, his inner self cried and sobbed, _"But I DO love you, Naomi!"_

"Does… that mean I'm saying it like I love Tia…?" Kei asked slowly, his face turning a bit pale.

Naomi's eyes turned round and white, hearing what he just said and drops her jaws.

"No! No! I didn't mean it that way!" she said quickly. But then she added with a sly grin, "I say… do you?"

"What-the? Of course not!" he replied immediately, his face turned from pale to flushed red.

Naomi laughs with Edward hard.

"I do believe you are!"

"I do not!"

The door to Naomi's room slowly opens and Tia comes out. A drop of sweat formed on her forehead, seeing Naomi and Edward laughing like kookaburras, clutching their stomachs as they did so and Kei's reddened face.

"Wh-what's so funny…? What'd I miss…?" she asked in confusion.

Kei answered a bit too quickly, "Nothing! Just… nothing, heh!"

"Ehh, right… Whatever…"

"So, you feel alright now?" Kei asks with concern. He couldn't help it, even when Naomi is giving him a sly look.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You have no idea."

"By the way, we haven't got proper introductions yet. I'm Naomi Summer and this is my best friend, Edward Kreuger."

"I'm Tia Rina. Thanks for helping me out there."

"It didn't trouble us."

Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder, Bones, Little Fang and Vagrant all appeared at the front door and hugged Tia tightly, nearly knocking her down.

"Whoa, hey guys. I wasn't dying, okay? I'm still okay here," she said as she kneed down to them, giving Bones and Little Fang a chance to lick her face.

"Oh, by the way, meet my Bulbasaur, Chikorita and Treecko. Wayne, Cleft and Ken," Edward introduced.

"And my Squirtle, Totodile and Mudkip too. Tough Shell, Jaws and Kip," Naomi joined.

"Well, these are Pyro, Vagrant, Little Fang, Bones, Cinder and Fireworks," Tia pointed to each according to their names.

"Tia… Would you like to stay here at my house, for a few days? You know, while waiting for your back to heal a bit?" Naomi offered.

"Sure! We could even become best friends! Don't worry; Liner will guard our home while I'm here."

"Great! This is so exciting!"

"And I'll come by sometimes too!" Edward said.

"You ALWAYS come here!" Naomi exclaimed.

"Oh, err, right, heh…"

"We are going to be one big circle of best friends!" Tia says happily as she swings an arm each around Kei's and Naomi's shoulders and Kei's arm around Edward's shoulder.

"We've got more friends and we'd be glad to introduce them to you, Tia!"

"The more the merrier!"

* * *

Author's note : Gah! Why is it so short? Sorry, but I didn't expect this, either... R & R! 


	5. Shadow Inferno,Psyche Aqua,Rough Forest

Author's note : Sorry I took so long! ; Do not worry! I am back and please enjoy!

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 5 – Shadow Inferno, Psyche Aqua, Rough Forest

"_I can't tell anyone about what happened at the desert earlier today... If people start looking for him, they might get the _real_ Benen; the Twilight Angel. But then, the devil is out there somewhere and he would do anything bad..."_

"Hey, Tia! What're you doing out there? Come in and have dinner with us," Naomi called from the door.

Tia snaps out of her thoughts and walks inside the house. Everyone else is already sitting at the table.

"I'm sorry for making you wait," she apologizes.

A woman, a bit plump-sized, said to her, "It's okay, Tia… It's not like we're _that_ starved."

The moment Mrs. Summer said that, Naomi's brother, Henry groans as his stomach growls. Everyone else simply sweat-dropped. He laughs shakily.

Henry is a skinny and tall 14-year-old, two years younger than Naomi, Edward and Tia; in her human years that is. His ears seem to be a little too noticeable for they were a bit bigger than normal. He has a strange habit of lifting the dining chair up and down during his free time to build up his muscles; instead of going to the gym.

Naomi has a lot of siblings. Her older sister, Anne is 3 years older than her. She is also a tall person, wearing spectacles and has shoulder-length dark hair. She is smart and attractive. Naomi told Tia she had hundreds of boyfriends before.

Rhonda is a small girl, 11 years old with short but bushy dark hair. Her siblings are always making fun of her hair, saying it looks like a beehive.

Hailey is 9 years old. She is quite plump, unlike the rest of her siblings but must've gotten it from her father, who is a rather big-sized man.

Dominic is 5 years old and is very mischievous. He is always up to something crazy and unexpected. He can be very noisy at times too.

Lastly, the 2-year-old Newton, nicknamed Newt. Naomi seems a bit unhappy about Newt's birth, though. She still thinks having too much siblings are a nuisance.

After dinner, Mr. Summer sits in front of the TV to watch the news while Mrs. Summer sits quietly in her sewing corner to finish her clothes patchwork. Newt is being annoyed by Dominic, who was annoyed by Rhonda, who was annoyed by Hailey, who was annoyed by Naomi, who was annoyed by Henry. Anne is sitting next to Tia on the sofa, reading a book. Tia watches the great circle of sibling-annoyance in amusement, laughing every once in a while whenever they did something really funny to each other.

"Is it always like this?" Tia asks Anne.

"Yup," she replied simply, without shifting her attention from the book.

"It's so hilarious. Better than those comedy shows on TV!" she exclaims.

"Oh."

"Don't you think so?"

"Yeah."

Tia sweat-dropped. Naomi came and sits next to Tia.

"Want to go sit outside?" she invited her.

"Sure. I'd be glad to. She's so boring…" she told her.

"Yeah, she sure is! Glad to see you think the same! And she doesn't share, too!" she pouts.

Seeing that Naomi heads towards her room instead of the front door, Tia calls out to her, "Hey, where're you going?"

She comes out a while later with a pencil case and a few pieces of paper.

"Oh, you draw too?" Tia pointed out.

"Yeah. Wait, and you…?"

"Yup, correct."

"Alright! A partner!" cheered Naomi happily.

They sit down at the small table left outside the house. Naomi hands Tia a piece of paper and a pencil. Both of them stared blankly at the paper and looked up to see each other's faces. Then, they nodded and at the same time, they reached for their PokeBalls and released their Pokemon. Apart from Tough Shell, Jaws and Kip, Naomi also has other Pokemon.

A violet-coloured mammal with long ears and a tail that splits into two at the end appeared. A small round orb on its forehead glowed red. Its dark purple eyes stared back at Tia's brown ones. Psy Sun the Espeon then rubs her head on Tia's legs like a loving cat.

A tall giraffe-like creature with its body colours halved paws the ground. The front half looks quite normal; like a giraffe. But the other half has another face, an angry looking one, which happens to be her tail. Nikki the Girafarig pushes her pink snout towards Tia's face softly.

The last one is a small blue hollow sphere with a flat long tail that very much looks like a piece of long paper. Pink marks its cheeks and tail end. A yellow suction cup on its head is used to hang itself from the ceiling. As a smooth wind blows, Chime the Chimecho made a soft tinkling sound.

Like Team Shadow Inferno, Naomi's Psyche Aqua members have something on them to show that they are from that team. Tough Shell, Jaws and Psy Sun have a purple-blue band on their right arms. Kip and Nikki have a white collar on their necks. Chime wears a violet headband on his round head. All of their accessories come with the team's icon.

Psy Sun sits down quietly, folding her slender legs in just like Nikki, who rests next to her too. Chime stays in his place, tinkling echoes as he does. Bones and Little Fang are trying desperately to reach Chime, which they could not for he is too high. Vagrant and Fireworks sit next to each other, talking quietly about something. Tough Shell, Jaws, Kip, Pyro and Cinder are together in the middle, telling stories to each other.

Once Vagrant had finished talking to Fireworks, she tells him that she is joining the story-telling group. Fireworks, being stubborn stands his ground. He thinks it is too childish and ridiculous.

Tia and Naomi watch the Pokemon, drawing them at the same time, thinking their poses are just too perfect. Later, Edward appears with his Pokemon team; Rough Forest.

"Good evening guys! Hey, can we join you?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Edward tells his Pokemon to go sit with the others while Naomi goes in to take another chair. Once all three are comfortable on their chairs, they started talking. The Pokemon are talking, too.

'Ah, hi! You're just in time for my story! But first, introductions,' Vagrant said to Edward's team.

Wayne, Cleft and Ken had, of course, been introduced to Shadow Inferno earlier today. But Edward has three other Pokemon with him now; a Mankey, Machop and Makuhita, who are called Sylvester, Magnus and Clive respectively. Vagrant showed her team mates to the three Fighting Pokemon. All of Rough Forest members wore brown bandanas with green linings and a fist-on-a-leaf symbol in the middle around their necks.

'So, what's the story you wanted to tell us, Vagrant?' asked Chime in a sweet, quiet voice that echoes.

Both Little Fang and Bones had stopped trying to catch Chime's tail and had sat down near the circle with Psy Sun and Nikki.

'I'm going to tell you how Tia found me,' Vagrant said.

'Ah, you never told us that story, Vagrant…' commented Fireworks quietly but everyone had heard him, though.

'I thought you think story-telling in a circle with a whole bunch of others is childish, Fireworks?' Pyro said teasingly.

He knew he had been listening all along. Fireworks avoided everyone's gaze immediately.

'Hahaha! Finally, he's caught! You think you're always so superior, huh?' Pyro laughed at him.

'Pyro! Will you stop it? Let him join and listen, will you? There's nothing wrong with that," scolded Vagrant.

Pyro settled down but he managed to take a quick glance back and slip his tongue out at Fireworks, who growled back at him. Vagrant pretended not to see that as she sighed. The two were always fighting and competing with each other. Cinder had sometimes broken the fight up between them but Vagrant did most of them. She is the eldest among Shadow Inferno members, anyway. She shot a glare at both of them and sighed in exasperation.

* * *

Author's note : Be sure to read the next chapter! 


	6. Vagrant

Author's note : Here I am! Enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 6 - Vagrant

'Now that we've got _those_ covered up,' Vagrant glared at Fireworks and Pyro again. 'I shall now begin my story...'

**Flashback**

**Tia walked around Mahogany Town and heard rumours about a thief stealing their properties. Some say Team Rocket was back and some even think the legendary ninjas were back! **

**She was staying at an Inn in Mahogany. It was called Nin Uchi and Tia liked the Japanese ninja-theme of the inn. After a long day visiting the Lake of Rage, Tia, Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder went back to the inn to rest.**

**Tia slid the slide door open and allowed the Pokemon in. Everyone sat down comfortably in the room as Tia searched for her bag.**

"**Strange… I could have sworn I put my bag _right_ here!" she exclaimed.**

'**Cyn-cyn-da!'**

**The three Pokemon helped in the search. They looked everywhere; even the most impossible places. And still, they could not find it.**

"**No! I _can't_ lose it! Let's go ask the receptionist!"**

**They ran hurriedly to the lobby and to the reception's counter desk.**

"**_Konbanwa_… May I help you, young lady?" greeted the old woman slowly.**

"**_Konbanwa desu, obaa-san_. Have you or any of the workers here entered my room today while I was gone? I seem to have lost my bag and I've got everything I need in there!" she said desperately.**

"**No, _Tia-chan_… But I do know who took it…"**

"**Who?"**

"**It is the thief. I think he had a certain interest in something in your bag and sneaked into your room quietly to steal it. You have heard about the thief, yes?"**

"**Yes, yes I have… I had no idea it would really steal my bag."**

"**What are you going to do now?"**

"**I will try my best to get it back."**

"**It is almost impossible, _Tia-chan_. The police had searched for all the missing items and yet, they did not find it. They even checked the old Team Rocket Hideout to make sure. No traces were left behind," the old woman explained. "I am sorry but we did not hear anything at all."**

"**_Ii yo, obaa-san_._ Arigatou gozaimasu_," Tia told her that it was alright and thanked her politely.**

"**_Sumimasen…_" the old woman apologized again.**

**Tia went back to her room to think. Her Pokemon were huddled together in one spot and looked at their Trainer; what should they do next?**

**Cinder noticed something as she was scanning the room. The bed sheet was torn; a little, but good enough for evidence. Maybe. Cinder chirped at Tia and the others.**

"**Oh, you're right, Cinder… The thief must've accidentally slashed through here with something… Oh, dear… What if he had a knife with him?"**

'**This is kind of hopeless… What good is this stupid clue anyway? So we know the thief slashed here, but then what?' Fireworks was starting to get really annoyed.**

**Tia stroked Fireworks's head and told them all to go to sleep. **

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**The next morning, after washing up, Tia went to see the old lady for check out. At the same time, Pyro was complaining to Cinder about how hungry he is.**

"**Dear child, I insist you stay for a bit longer for breakfast," the old lady offered, seeing Pyro's screwed up face.**

"**But I didn't pay for today's breakfast…!"**

"**Do not worry… It is free. You cannot continue your adventure with an empty stomach, correct? You might faint. Besides, you have no money on you. How do you expect on getting food for you and your friends later on?"**

**Tia smiled and bowed to the old lady, thanking her over and over. The other three were joyful too. After a delicious meal, they set off. One of the workers at the inn even gave Tia a set of sushi's for their lunch as an admiration gift, which Tia took with a _little_ discomfort. **

**They reached the Ice Path soon enough and entered it, praying that they won't get lost. Tia untied the white jacket around her waist and wore it over her red long-sleeved shirt for warmth.**

**As they slid on the icy roads of the Ice Path, a swift creature watches them with its sharp glaring eyes. Fireworks felt the glare but ignored it. Cinder feared that they might have gotten lost in the icy puzzle maze. They were pushing boulders down holes to assist them in their path to reach another level of the cave. Then, they climbed down to slide on more ice. **

**Unfortunately for Fireworks, the ice below him actually cracked and he was falling into sheer cold water.**

"**Fireworks!"**

'**Tor-chic!'**

'**Char-man!'**

'**Cyn-da-quil…!' he moaned as he tried to grasp onto something near him but could not.**

**The others were already on the land part of the floor and the ice does seem to look thinner. The reason; Pyro didn't watch his tail. The fire melted the ice and Fireworks was on his trail. He walked on the thin ice and it broke into a hole. Tia had no time to scold Pyro. She was thinking of a way to save Fireworks.**

**In a flash, a quick black figure swooped down from… somewhere and grabbed Fireworks. In the quick movement, Tia could see something flash in shine. A second later, a wet Fireworks stood in between Cinder and Pyro. Another second later, a mysterious Pokemon appeared next to Tia.**

**The cat-like Pokemon was dark in colour, had three pinkish-red fan-like appendages for a tail and one for its left ear and had a golden jewel on its forehead and chest each.**

**It opened its mouth and shot out a stream of shimmering ice to cover up the hole and other parts of the ice that had been thinned.**

"**Oh, thanks so much, wild Sneasel," Tia said in a relief.**

**But her relief stopped there. The Sneasel suddenly extended its long, sharp claws. **

"**Gah! W-w-wait…!" she said, panicked. "I'm not going to hurt you! A-and they won't too!" referring to Cinder, Fireworks and Pyro. **

'**Humph, I'm a thief. Why won't your human attack me?' **

'**Excuse me, Miss… but, did you not sense her twilight energy?' Fireworks said politely.**

'**Her-what-energy? I do sense a strange, nice aura from her but I don't really know what they are.'**

'**It means she is an angel.'**

'**Angel? For real?'**

'**Yes.'**

'**Then I shall not attack you and your friends.'**

'**Thank you.'**

'**Let me show you my place.'**

**The Sneasel motioned Tia to follow as she did not join in the conversation just now. They climbed down another floor and were brought behind some large rocks. They sat there and looked at the Sneasel.**

'**You can put a fire on if you'd like. I'm not a full ice Pokemon,' she said absent-mindedly.**

'**Already on it,' Pyro said as he pointed to his tail behind him.**

'**Ah, yes. The one who caused everything; the hole, the thin ice…'**

**Pyro nodded down in shame.**

"**Anyway, would any of you like some sushi?" Tia asked.**

'**What's a sushi?'**

'**It's a dish made of raw fish, rice and seaweed. You also eat it with soy sauce. I must say I like it…' Fireworks explained to her.**

'**Well, I don't know what seaweed is but I'll try it.'**

**Tia unwrapped the plastic container and snapped her chopsticks into two. There were so many sushi's, enough for everyone including Sneasel. Tia sweat-dropped.**

"_**That guy must've made this all by himself just for me…"**_

**Sneasel took one with her claws and popped it into her mouth.**

'**Emm, I like it, too… err…'**

'**Oh! I'm Fireworks. That's Pyro and there's Cinder. My Trainer's name is Tia Rina.'**

**At exactly that right time, Tia decided a proper name for the Sneasel.**

'**Right. What she said, then. My name would be Vagrant.'**

"**You must've been wandering all by yourself all this time… Why don't you join our team?"**

**Vagrant turned to Fireworks.**

'**Team?'**

'**Yeah. Be our friend.'**

**Vagrant turned back to Tia and nodded.**

"**Yes! A new team member! Vagrant, welcome to the team," Tia said happily. "Now, if only I could find my bag again, we'd be set to go on the road freely again…"**

'**Her bag? Is it, by any chance, this one?' she went behind another rock and took out a white backpack.**

"**My bag! And everything inside! Oh, Vagrant, you're the thief. You must return everything back to its rightful owner before we leave."**

'**Snea-snea-sel,' she agreed.**

**She's finally going to experience a new life with them.**

**End of flashback**

'Wow, I didn't know you started up as a thief before!' Kip exclaimed in surprise.

'Well, it's all behind me now.'

'Heh, look at her now. She's the big sister of Pyro, Fireworks and Cinder,' Tough Shell pointed out.

'That was a good story, Vagrant,' Nikki commented.

'It was very well told,' Psy Sun praised.

'Thanks.'

"Ah, my drawing is finished!"

"Mine, too!"

"Hahaha, hey, let me see!" demanded Edward. "Wow, these are great!"

He flipped to another page of Naomi's drawing block and...

"What's a portrait of me doing here?"

Naomi glowed red as she snatched it back from him.

"Idiot! That's not you! Can't you see? It's a totally different, _imaginary_ guy!"

Tia giggled at the sight of the two lovebirds... err, friends with a drop of sweat on her forehead.

* * *

Author's note : Thanks for staying! R & R! 


	7. Meeting David

Author's note : I admit I'm not good in writing Pokemon battles but this time, I'm going to try my best! Even without **Black Murder Heavangelon**'s help! _Ties a headband around forehead_ Go! Go! Go!

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 7 – Meeting David

Tia wakes up in the light of a new morning in the Summers' house. She rolls over to the left but was followed by a stabbing pain in her back. The burn seems to have eased a bit but still painful.

Naomi, Anne and Tia share a bed because the bed was spacious and held the three girls well. The top bunk was made for one, though, so Henry took the spot. The rest of the siblings slept on mattresses that were laid down on the floor. The room looks pretty crowded. Mr. and Mrs. Summer slept in another room.

Anne is already at the door when Tia looks for her. Everyone else on the floor was still asleep until Anne walked past them and kicked them on her way to the door.

"You and Henry are lucky you sleep on the bed, huh? Or else you'll get kicked, too…" Tia commented.

At the same time, both of them said in a sleepy voice, "Not quite. She just slapped us a few minutes ago, before you were up."

Tia sweat-dropped. Now that Anne had gotten everyone up, it's time for the queuing up. Anne, of course, took the first turn for the bathroom. The rest had to fight over the next turn.

"Kids! Breakfast is ready!" called Mrs. Summer.

And now, time for the fight over the best-cooked sausages… Chime rang a bell and the siblings started fighting.

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"Good morning, girls."

"Morning, Edward."

"Good morning."

"I don't think you'll be having a _good_ morning today, people."

"What?"

They turned around to see a young teenager in a shirt with a black torso and short red sleeves. His red and white trousers were patterned in halves like Edward's, with green PokeBall shapes on the whites. His shoes were black, red and green. His wristband was white and green and his Hoenn League cap was worn backwards. His Raichu tags along quietly behind him.

"_Oh no! It's him again! Cinder's supposed-to-be owner!"_ thought Tia in her mind.

Cinder jumped and hid behind Tia's legs. The Raichu immediately recognizes Pyro and Cinder. Pyro stands his ground and tried to protect Cinder. David notices the Fire Pokemon and his facial expression changed from proud to anger. Apparently, he does not realize it was _the_ Torchic he had been looking for.

"You! The one with the Torchic! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" he demanded bossily.

"A battle? No, you battle me first. A double-battle," said Edward.

The Trainer thought for a while. "Fine then. We battle. All of us. First I'll battle you, then the brunette and then the girl with red hair. All will be double battles. No Pokemon retreats during one battle and use the only two chosen Pokemon for one battle."

"Agreed," said the three friends.

"Wait, what's your name?" Naomi asked.

"Why would I tell you my name?" he spat rudely.

"Well, we could refer to one another easier, won't we? I'm Naomi," she tried to ignore his rudeness, though.

"I am Edward. And this is Tia."

"Just call me David," he growled. "Just get on with the battle!"

"Wayne, Sylvester. You go," ordered Edward.

"Scyther, Pidgeotto, I choose you!" David called.

**Battle**** Situation :**

**_Edward_****'s_ Bulbasaur, Wayne _and_ Mankey, Sylvester_ vs. _David_'s_ Pidgeotto _and_ Scyther_**

**This is a double battle with no substitution or time limit**

**_BATTLE_****_ BEGIN!_**

Wayne immediately shoots out razor-sharp leaves at Scyther, trying to catch him off-guard. Scyther, however, had quick reflexes. With a swipe of his large scythe, the leaves fall down on ground softly, all cut in perfect halves.

'You'll have to do better than that to defeat me, boy,' said Scyther calmly.

Sylvester jumps from beside the disappointed Wayne and readies himself to attack.

"Sylvester, use the classic Karate Chop!"

The angered Mankey targets for Scyther's right shoulder. Scyther saw where his eyes looked at and protected the side. He was tricked, however. Sylvester purposely did that to distract Scyther. He uses a Karate Chop on Scyther's head as a critical hit. He was dizzy for a moment before doing the Swords Dance and uses a great Slash attack back at Sylvester.

"Pidgeotto, use Whirlwind!"

Pidgeotto flaps hard with his wings and caused a whirling howling wind. It dragged both Wayne and Sylvester up in the air. They spun around and around until they became dizzy. Pidgeotto stops the wind in a sudden and caused the two Pokemon to fall down on the hard ground with a loud thud. It took them a while to regain concentration for the battle. Pidgeotto and Scyther took the time as a chance to attack. Pidgeotto started pecking on Wayne's flower bulb and Scyther uses Wing Attack on Sylvester.

" Wayne! Sylvester!" Edward shouted.

"Looks like your Pokemon won't stand a chance against mine!" said David.

Wayne uses Vine Whip on Pidgeotto but misses nearly every time.

"Sylvester, use Focus Punch!"

Sylvester's fist glows brightly and he focused his energy for his attack. He punched Scyther out of his way and helped his plant friend. Wayne uses Poisonpowder on Scyther and Pidgeotto but they gained forces and create a powerful gust of Whirlwind to blow the poisonous powder, Wayne and Sylvester away. They hit a nearby tree hard and were knocked unconscious.

"My Pokemon…" wailed Edward.

"I win the first battle. You, next."

"Edward, I'll win this one for you," Naomi said as she called Jaws and Psy Sun forth.

"Huh, this must be my luck. This is way too easy," David said confidently. "Umbreon, go. Raichu, you too."

**Battle**** Situation :**

**_Naomi_****'s_ Totodile, Jaws_ and _Espeon, Psy Sun _vs. _David_'s_ Raichu _and_ Umbreon_**

**This is a double battle with no substitution or time limit**

**_BATTLE_****_ BEGIN!_**

'This is so hilarious. I have to defeat a lady like you?' Umbreon said with sarcasm.

Psy Sun cocked her head up high at his remark.

'I may be a lady but I will do my best to defeat _you_,' she replied solemnly.

'Hahaha, hear that, Raichu? She wishes to defeat me.'

'That is a wish even a magical genie could not command, my lady,' Raichu snickered.

'Jaws, don't listen to them. Never mind our weaknesses. Just do your best. Show Naomi that you try,' Psy Sun advised to the young Water Pokemon.

'Aww, isn't that just sweet? Get 'em, partner!'

"Raichu, Thundershock the Totodile! Umbreon, Pursuit the Espeon!"

"He's got a full advantage…" complained Naomi.

Jaws was left with only a few health points. Psy Sun is stronger so, she survived the strong Dark attack better.

"Jaws, Bite Umbreon! Psy Sun, use your strongest Psychic attack on Raichu!"

Jaws bares his sharp row of teeth at Umbreon and bites him hard on his black body, ignoring his low strength. Umbreon growls in pain. Psy Sun concentrates her psychic energy in her mind and releases psychic waves from herself to Raichu. Raichu experiences severe mental pain when the waves hit him.

"Raichu, finish the Totodile off with Swift!"

A never-missing attack, Jaws fainted from the impact, leaving Psy Sun alone in the battlefield.

'Now, you will lose, too, lady!' Umbreon exclaimed.

He tries to Bite Psy Sun but she evaded. Raichu attempts to Tackle her fully but also missed.

"Psy Beam!"

She shoots out rings of psyche waves from her mouth at Raichu as she runs at Umbreon, Tackling him.

'What's up with her? She's gone mad suddenly!' Umbreon exclaimed.

'I think you just answered your own question, Umbreon…' Raichu told him.

"Ah, this Pokemon is driving me crazy! Raichu, Swift attack!"

Psy Sun was hit. Nevertheless, she gets up again and uses Confuse Ray on Umbreon as commanded by Naomi. Umbreon becomes confused and Bites his own paw. Raichu gets irritated by the Espeon.

"Grr, Raichu, why won't you use Slam attack on that Espeon now?" David ordered roughly.

Raichu jumps onto a tree branch and then jumps off from there, slamming onto Psy Sun, causing her to finally faint. David muttered, "Finally… What a nuisance…" and retreated Umbreon back into his Great Ball.

"That's it? That was so unfair!"

"Technically, it wasn't, Naomi… He only battled strategically. At least he understood the concept of Pokemon weaknesses," Edward explained.

"Time to battle you. My last winning battle."

"There's no telling you would win or not, David," Tia told him.

"Oh, but I do, whatever-your-name-was-again…"

"_How rude is this human?"_ Tia thought unbelievably. "Tia. T-I-A. Three words."

"Whatever… I bet this will be the easiest battle of all three. Beedrill and Nidorino, go!"

"Cinder, go! Vagrant, watch her back!"

Vagrant nods and enters the battlefield with Cinder, who walked with nervous little steps.

**Battle**** Situation :**

**_Tia_****'s_ Torchic, Cinder _and _Sneasel, Vagrant_ vs. _David_'s_ Beedrill _and_ Nidorino_**

**This is a double battle with no substitution or time limit**

**_BATTLE_****_ BEGIN!_**

'What's the matter? Scared? Chicken!' Nidorino mocked Cinder.

Cinder looks up at him, "Well, technically, I _am_ a chicken. Was a typo? Or are you really that stupid?"

From the sidelines, Pyro and Fireworks said, 'Ooooh' at the same time. They had known Cinder the longest and she never insulted someone back. Especially at a violent-looking purple creature with a sharp horn and long poisonous barbs on his back. Even Vagrant stared at her with a weird expression. The insult, however, pissed the Nidorino off, prone to being easily angered.

He kicked the ground with his hind legs and used Take Down at Cinder. Dust flew everywhere as Nidorino rolled at breakneck speed towards the small chick Pokemon. Everyone else covered their mouths and noses as they coughed. Once the cloud of brown dust cleared away, there stood an ice statue of Nidorino. Vagrant had frozen him with her ice powers before he had the chance to lay a horn on Cinder.

"Amazing! How'd she do that?" Naomi and Edward exclaimed excitedly.

Cinder winked at Pyro and Fireworks. Pyro jumped up and cheered more for her. Fireworks only smiled at her. Cinder blushed at his smile. Vagrant peered down at her blushing friend and chuckled a bit.

'That's it! We battle, here and now!' Beedrill cried angrily.

'Isn't that what we're doing right...' Cinder blows a breath of flame at him, '…now!'

Beedrill, being an insect, could not stand the heat. He flies around, buzzing, trying to get rid of the fire on him. He finally falls down and rubs himself against the earth. The fire was put out.

"Beedrill, stop fooling around! Drill your partner out of that ice first!" David shouted in frustration.

'Yes, sir…' he buzzed quietly and used Horn Drill on the ice to break it.

Quickly, the ice shattered into pieces and a shivering Nidorino appeared.

'Alright now… Time to break the ice…' he said.

But he was interrupted by the girls, 'Beedrill just did that for you.'

'Shut up! Let me finish! As I was saying, time to break the ice… I want you to know me a little better! How strong I am!' he shouted.

'He's a little pathetic, isn't he?'

'Yeah, he is…'

'I said shut up!' he said again.

He charged at them, pointing his large horn at them. Cinder jumps to the side to evade the charging 'bull'. Without looking up and stopping, Nidorino continues charging. He changes his course and follows Cinder's direction. Cinder scrambles and runs away. She leads him to a tree and made a sharp turn. Nidorino hit the tree and got his horn stuck in the trunk.

'Hihi, yes!'

'Yeah! Go, Cinder! Size does not matter! You can beat him!' Pyro cheered.

Vagrant is avoiding Beedrill's Twineedles with athletic moves. She eventually jumps towards Beedrill and slashes him. Then, the two are battling with stingers and claws, like swords. As their weapons hit each other with clanging sounds, Cinder is burning Nidorino while he is stuck in the tree. She avoids physical attacks to him because she might get poisoned with his Poison Point ability.

"Good job, guys! Keep this up and we might actually win!" Tia said.

Vagrant finally found Beedrill's off-guarded side and stabs him with her claws. Beedrill fell back with a loud buzz. Nidorino had freed himself from the tree and uses his TM technique, Sludge Bomb. Cinder is covered with a coating of a purple and poisonous sludge from the very tip of her down feathers to her scaled claws.

'Vagrant, help me!' she cried.

She turns to look at Cinder and immediately created a huge ice block up in the sky, right above Cinder.

Naomi gasped, "Tia, what are they doing? The ice block will hit poor defenseless Cinder!"

"Don't worry about it. They know what they're doing…" Tia replied calmly.

Cinder quickly shoots balls of hot fire at the ice, melting it. The water from the melting ice falls down onto Cinder, washing away the poisonous sludge. She then shakes herself until her feathers were ruffled.

Edward pounds his fist lightly on his palm, "I get it now. Vagrant creates the ice for Cinder to heat it to become water. The water will wash the poison away effectively. This is a very good strategy, Tia. Your Pokemon are smart," he praised.

"Thanks. They'll appreciate the praise as well. Okay, now, switch!"

Vagrant now battles Nidorino while Cinder battles Beedrill. Nidorino tries to stab Vagrant and inject poison into her but she had created an ice shield to protect her. She could see the purple liquid flow in the ice. She imagines the hazardous liquid in her body, harming her and trembles.

Cinder repeatedly shoots out fire balls at Beedrill, who evades. Then, she tried a technique. She blows a continuous fire so it formed a ring around her. Cinder's Fire Spin worked perfectly. Beedrill was in the field of the attack, so he was severely burned and fell down like a dying insect, which he is. David called him back into his PokeBall and tells Nidorino to use Double Kick.

Nidorino Double-Kicks Vagrant, which was a super effective technique as Dark types are weak against Fighting moves. She falls down on the ground in pain. The impact was powerful; she took a while to wait for the pain to ease. Nidorino uses Stomp on her while she was down. She cries shrilly in pain.

Cinder could not stand seeing her role model being tormented so cruelly. She uses Quick Attack and hits Nidorino. When he turns to face her, she kicked sand into his eyes. He roared as the fine sand particles hurt his eyes. At that time, Vagrant gets up and shoots a strong Ice Beam from her mouth at Nidorino, knocking him out cold.

"Yes! I win! Mighty fine job, Vagrant and Cinder!" cheered Tia.

"No, they can't lose! This is a very good team! They can't lose!"

"Well, you saw what happened. There are other witnesses. I won fair and square."

David only growled. After retiring Nidorino back into his PokeBall, he only turns and stomps away from them.

"I'll get stronger, I swear! I'll defeat every Torchic I see on my way!" he bellowed.

"…What's up with him?"

Naomi and Edward both think he is crazy.

"Well, I guess he had his own issues with Torchics…" said Tia as winked lightly at Cinder, Pyro and Fireworks.

* * *

Author's note : Well, I hope that was satisfying enough for battles. 


	8. Pyro goes missing!

Author's note : Here I am for another enjoyable chapter…

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 8 – Pyro goes missing!

"Hey, Tia, where are you going?" asked Naomi, seeing her friend packing a towel into her bag.

"Oh, I'm just going to the Lavaridge Hot Spring."

"What for?"

"Well, I hear it could heal… I'm going to try it for my burnt back. Do you want to come, too?"

"Uh, no thanks. I'd rather stay here."

"Well, okay then. I'll be there; you'll know where to find me. Look after Shadow Inferno for me while I'm gone."

"Alright. See you later."

She waves goodbye to her team mates and leaves for the Lavaridge Pokemon Center. Tia went through an entrance that was covered with curtains. There are men's and women's locker rooms located opposite to each other. Tia changed into red bikinis. There is only one hot spring, so everyone has to share. She brought her towel with her and tied it around her waist. Then, she presses her hair into a bun.

She went outside and walked on the wooden bridge that led to the hot spring. According to legend, the Lavaridge Hot Spring calms tension, relieves muscle ache, solves romantic problems and attracts money.

Some people were already in the spring, relaxing; two old women, a young man and a woman. Tia leaves her towel on a dry rock nearby and brings herself into the hot neutral water. She tries to ignore the attendance of the others in the spring and lets her mind wander by itself as she closes her eyes.

A few minutes later, she heard the cries of a Sneasel, followed by barks. She walks to the other side of the spring and rests her arms and head on the rock that surrounded the spring. She smiles when she sees Vagrant, Bones, Little Fang, Fireworks and Cinder. Kei walks behind them with a smile, as well.

"Hi, guys. Where's Pyro?" she asks.

Fireworks turns his head to his left, pointing Tia Pyro's direction. Outside the spring is sand. She sees a pile of sand and has a fire sticking out of it. She looks at it with confusion before realizing that it was actually Pyro, buried in the sand with his tail out. He pops his head out and grins widely at Tia.

"I… just came by at Naomi's to check on… you and learned you were here. The Pokemon couldn't part with you, see?" Kei explained with a red face.

"It's okay. I am kind of bored here," Tia replies gently.

Kei scratches his head and stays quiet, not knowing what else to say. Eventually, he asks about her pain.

"How is the water treating you?"

"Well, I don't feel any pain now. Maybe it does work."

"Oh, I see…"

He feels awkward talking to her, especially when she is in her bikinis.

"Kei, yesterday, a young teen challenged Edward, Naomi and I. He said his name was David. He was the guy who scared Cinder. Remember, I told you about him?"

"Yeah. Did you know he is a friend of Jake's? He talks bad of Jake, and yet he is of no difference."

"Wow, it's amazing how we all connect with each other."

"Yes, it is. Did you win against him?"

"I did, but he defeated Edward and Naomi. He said that he was going to defeat every Torchic he sees in the way."

"…Right."

They talked about what was happening at the Day Care Center. Kei climbed the rocks and sat on it while he talks to Tia. The two keeps an eye on the Pokemon as they do. Soon, Tia said she wanted to get out of the spring.

"Can't stay here too long. I may faint," she claimed.

She stands up in the water and turns to the wooden bridge. A second later, she hears a big splash behind her. Reflexively, she turns back and sees Kei's wet head above the water surface. She covers her mouth with her hand as she stifled a giggle. Kei sharply turns his head to Pyro, who had _accidentally _pushed him from below and is now rolling on the sand, laughing. Unable to strain herself from grinning, Tia tells Pyro to stop.

She helps Kei up by offering her hand. He took it and thanked her, looking away, probably blushing. After changing into her normal clothes, Shadow Inferno and Kei went to Edward's house. It was not surprising to see Naomi there as well.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Edward exclaimed when he saw Kei.

"He doesn't want to talk about it, Ed," Tia said, again, stifling a giggle.

Pyro is now hugging Kei's leg, trying to beg for his forgiveness. Naomi blinked and laughed as hard as she could. Edward joins in, too. He shows Kei to his room, for him to change into something dry.

"Oh man! Tia, what happened?" Naomi asked, still laughing.

"Well, he was with me at the spring. He sat on the edge of it and Pyro accidentally pushed him."

Naomi laughed harder. Kei comes out later in a dry shirt and shorts. They don't seem to fit him well, though. His build is rippled with lean muscles, unlike Edward, who had a very skinny and thin figure.

"I think… I'd better go back home. I can see Tia and her team are in good condition," he mumbled.

"Heh, okay, man. See you later!"

Kei left without another word.

"That… was funny. Poor Keiichi," Tia said with pity, this time.

Pyro went and sulked in a corner. He seems pretty sorry. He had always admired Kei and his Charizard. And now he did this to him. Little Fang walks over to him and licked his face to make him feel better.

'I'm sure Kei forgives you. He's a kind Pokemon Breeder,' she told him kindly.

Pyro stays quiet.

'She's right. We've been at the Day Care with him. He is a really nice guy,' Bones said with confidence.

"So, Tia, how did the hot spring treatment go?"

"It was okay. I don't feel the burn anymore. I'll be going there again tomorrow."

"It's a good place to relax, too," Edward added.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

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That night, Tia is telling her team to come inside and sleep. They walk in one by one, feeling drowsy already. But Vagrant stopped and looks at Tia with a worried look on her face.

"Vagrant, where's Pyro?"

She sorely hangs her head down and shook it slowly.

"Is he gone? Any of you didn't see him?"

Fireworks, Cinder, Bones and Little Fang's heads shot up in realization. Yes, they did not notice Pyro's absence. They knew they saw him but once they were busy on their own, they did not remember seeing him join. Had he slipped away while they were not looking?

'I can't believe he managed to slip away under _my_ watch!' Vagrant said with deep regrets. She knows she is responsible of keeping the team safe.

'Vagrant, it's not really your fault. We all didn't notice his escape,' Cinder tried to calm her down.

'I could not believe it either,' Fireworks sighed.

Bones and Little Fang try to sniff for him but failed. Naomi comes out of her room and called for Tia.

"Hey, what's with all the worried looks and scrambling around?" she asked.

"Naomi! Have you seen Pyro? He's missing!" Tia answered, panicked. She is worried of the little fire lizard Pokemon; especially alone in the night like this. Where could he be? Is he lost? Has something terrible befallen upon him?

"What? Wasn't he playing with your Pokemon just a while ago? I never saw him leave, or else I would have told you."

"Oh, dear… Naomi, this is awful! I can't leave him out there by himself! He's too young!"

Naomi asks her family members about seeing Pyro or the otherwise. All of them admitted that they did not see the young Charmander. Tia grabs her red jacket that has a Shadow Inferno symbol on the back. She wears it and said, "I'm going to go look for him. Shadow Inferno, come."

Everyone followed obediently. Naomi grabs a coat and follows.

"Naomi, get back before 10!" called her mother.

Coincidentally, Edward, whose house is near Naomi's, was sitting outside, reading a magazine. He heard the noise from Naomi's house and looks up from the magazine to see. He sees Shadow Inferno and Psyche Aqua searching for something.

"Hey, what are you peopling doing prowling around at night?" he called.

"Edward! We're searching for Pyro! He's gone missing!" Naomi explains.

"What? Missing? But why?"

"We don't know for sure… but we're going to search for him first. That's the most important," Tia said.

"I'll join. The more the search party is, the better the chance we have to find him," he offered as he released Rough Forest members from their PokeBalls.

"Thank you, Edward…" Tia sighed. It is good to have friends. She automatically thinks of Heaven.

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Meanwhile, Pyro is walking quietly in the tall grass in the forests of Route 111. He tries hard not to make a sound, remembering the training he had had with Tia, Cinder and Fireworks back at the secret base. Now that he thinks of them, he feels a little guilty leaving without telling them. He shrugs it off and concentrates on his mission. He hears a flutter of wings and a crowing call of an unknown Pokemon and quickens his pace.

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"Pyro!" everyone called out for his name. They remembered to lower their voices, though so that they wouldn't wake the whole town up.

Rough Forest checked inside the Jagged Pass and Psyche Aqua checked the Fiery Path, just in case.

'Hey, come out! This isn't funny, anymore!' Fireworks called. He too, worries of his best friend even though he would not admit it out loud.

'Pyro, please come back!' If Pyro had surprised her with his Scary Face technique right now, she wouldn't mind. She just wanted to see him again.

"Oh, Pyro, why must you leave?" Tia said to herself quietly.

Then, she hears the sound of tree leaves rustling. She immediately hopes for Pyro and darts to the direction of the noise.

"_Pyro, please let it be you!"_ she prayed as she runs towards him.

She became disappointed when she learned that it was only a Murkrow, resting on the tree branch. It looks at Tia with a peculiar expression. She could see a glint of ingenuity in its eyes that pierced through her dark brown ones. She had heard that people believed Murkrows will bring great misfortune to anyone who spots them at night and yet she is standing there, staring at one. Maybe… he caused Pyro's disappearance.

She wonders what the bird is doing here, in Hoenn. Aren't they only found in the Johto region? Maybe a Trainer released it back to the wild in this region, she thought.

The Murkrow stares at Tia with its intelligent eyes, opens its beak and voiced out, 'Good evening, Lady Angel.'

Author's note : Stay tuned for the next chapter! ;D


	9. I am called Aeroshadow!

**Shadow Inferno **

Chapter 9 – I am called Aeroshadow! 

She looks to her left and right. She was sure the voice came from the Murkrow himself. She was confused because she didn't even use her mind-reaching ability. And besides, she heard his voice with her ears, not with her mind, she was positive of that.

"You can… speak?"

'Every Pokemon can speak, my lady. It is only the use of different languages that differentiate our translations with each other,' he explained smartly.

"…Okay."

'You must be wondering how I could speak your language… Let me say this,' he puffed up his chest slightly. '…I am called Aeroshadow. I gave the name myself. I had never been owned by a Trainer. I am a long-distance traveller. I pick up any knowledge I meet along the way and I must say I know a lot of things; even the knowledge to speak your language.'

"Wow, then you must be pretty clever!"

'Every Pokemon and every human is clever, yes. But it depends on the individual itself on how they use the cleverness in them.'

"You are a special one, Aeroshadow. You have both the knowledge of a human and Pokemon. How would you like to join my team, the Shadow Inferno?"

He flies down to her feet, bowed with a wing stretched out and the other tucked in, and said politely, 'It would be an honourable pleasure to do so, Lady Angel. I look forward to our future adventures together.'

"I like you," Tia said simply, in reply.

'Everyone enjoys flattery, my dear lady.'

Tia chuckled. She had almost forgotten her search for Pyro.

"Aeroshadow, I want to ask you if…"

'…I had seen Pyro?' he finished.

"H-how did you know…?"

'I have a watchful eye,' he said without explaining further. 'Yes, I have seen him.'

"Where is he? What happened to him? Is he safe?" the questions stumbled out of her mouth quickly.

'Peace, my lady. Calm yourself down. He is in the forests of Route 111. I suspect he could be at Mauville City by now, maybe a little further than there.'

Tia sighed and apologized.

'I understand. You care deeply for him. Come, we head for him now.'

"Wait, I'll go call my friends."

'Yes, but hurry. Danger may fall upon him anytime.'

Tia runs back to Shadow Inferno and told them that she knows where Pyro is. Everyone excitedly follow her. She grabs her PokeNav and looks up for both Edward and Naomi. She calls them to tell that she will be going to Mauville to look for Pyro and to stay in Lavaridge in case Pyro shows up unexpectedly. She then runs back to Aeroshadow, with the rest of her team. He nods at Tia and takes off, leading the way to Pyro.

"By the way, Aeroshadow, my name is Tia Rina, if you'd want to call me other than Lady Angel. Just Tia would be good," she panted as she runs, trying to catch up with Aeroshadow's speed.

'I will call you Lady Angel only at certain times, then. We wouldn't want anyone to know that you're an angel. I would still address you as Lady Tia.'

"Yes, I wouldn't mind," although there was a _slight_ hint of annoyance in her voice.

Vagrant, Fireworks, Cinder, Bones and Little Fang were shocked to hear a Murkrow speaking the human's language.

'Sir Aeroshadow, how can it be you are speaking her language and not our own?' Vagrant asks as polite as possible.

'What is your name, lady?'

'Tia calls me Vagrant.'

'The Vagrant Lady,' he addressed her. 'I have more knowledge than most Pokemon do,' he said mysteriously.

He made a sharp turn to Mauville and perches on a fence.

"Maybe I should check at the Day Care," Tia said. "Kei must know what is happening now."

The rest follow her to the Day Care Center. She opens the door, without thinking that she should knock first, and bumps into someone. The night is dark, she didn't see who. The person switched on his torchlight and pointed it at Tia.

"Tia?"

"Kei!"

Kei helps Tia up and both of them apologized at the same time.

"You are just the person I've been looking for!" they exclaimed in unison. Tia covered Kei's mouth quickly.

"Kei, Pyro is-"

"…right here, safe and sound," Kei finished, pushing away her hands from his mouth.

The little Charmander appeared from behind the door and looked at Tia. Shadow Inferno cheers happily, seeing Pyro safe. Pyro, glad to see everyone happy, comes out and hugs Fireworks, who immediately tells him to 'back off'.

Tia squeezes Pyro into a hug.

"Oh, Pyro…! I am ever so glad you are safe! Why did you do that to me? You had me worried sick!"

'Char-char… Char-man-char-man-der.'

'I'm sorry… But I needed to apologize to Kei about what happened earlier today,' Aeroshadow said. Everyone else turned their heads at him with a query look and he shrugs, 'I am just translating what young Pyro here said.'

"Whoa! He can speak!" Kei exclaimed incredulously.

Pyro is shocked, too. He had never heard a Pokemon talk like a human.

'Dear, sir. I just simply understand better thus learns effectively. Understanding is good.'

Kei could only gape at Aeroshadow.

'I don't mean say this rudely but please stop gaping at me. Knowledge, to me, is normal. You do not have to be so surprised by a smart Pokemon. We are not mere beasts.'

"Yes, yes, of course, I know that but… it's just rare to see a Pokemon like you."

'Well, I suppose that _is_ true.'

'Char-char-char!'

'Young Pyro wishes to explain to Lady Tia,' Aeroshadow said while offering to translate Pyro's explanation, receiving an approval nod from Tia.

**Flashback **

**Pyro climbed over the big boulder that was in the way to reach Mauville. He jumped down and landed with a soft thud. Still in a quick pace, he walked in the direction of the Pokemon Day Care Center. He stood in front of the door and thoughts swirled in his mind. **

**_'I must get his forgiveness… I can't let my idol down!'_ he thought. **

**As he was about to knock on the door, the wooden gate next to him creaked when it was swung open. Pyro's muscles tensed. **

**"Pyro? What are you doing here?" Kei asked. Then he added, "Um, where's Tia?" **

**Pyro scowled silently when he asked about her. What, didn't he care about what happened earlier today? **

**'Char-char-man-der…' he sighed and quickly hugged Kei's leg again. **

**"Oh, I see… You're here to beg for my forgiveness!" he bent down to pick Pyro up and told him, "I had already forgiven you! Why must you worry about it? You underestimated me…" **

**Kei's faint smile turned to a frown on his face. **

**"But still, where's Tia? Are you here alone? You ran away by yourself, didn't you?" **

**Pyro hung his head low. **

**"Pyro, you shouldn't have done that. You're going to cause a terrible mayhem back at Lavaridge. Trust me, I know." **

**Pyro shot an enquiring look at Kei. **

**"Well, you see, when Chad was a Charmander, he went missing too. It all happened when I was younger, back at my old home in Lavender City, Kanto. Have you been there? No? You should. It's a serene and peaceful place! Anyway, Chad went missing after he accidentally dropped a blueberry pie on my friend, Rikku. **

**"Rikku was flustered! She stalked away with pie on her head," Kei paused to chuckle under his breath. "I guess Chad felt bad and slipped away from my room that night to apologize at Rikku. Once I realized Chad was not in my room, I panicked. My parents and three older brothers helped me look for him. They were as worried as me. I couldn't imagine what could've happened to him in the night. But then, Rikku came by at my house with Chad in her arms. She explained that Chad tried to get her forgiveness for what happened." **

**'Char-char?' **

**"Yes; Chad, the strong Charizard you know now, was as silly as well!" **

**Pyro started to feel better. So he's not the only one in the world who makes such mistakes. He nods and gave Kei a hug as a thanks. **

**Kei stirred some hot chocolate for Pyro in the Day Care Center kitchen. **

**"Here. Drink. After this, I'll send you back to Tia. Don't make her worry too much about you. You've got to be independent. I know one day, you'll be a good leader for Shadow Inferno." **

**_'He's right… I'll have to be the leader. From now on, I promise, I'll try my best to sharpen up my leadership qualities; for the sake of my friends.'_ **

**End of Flashback **

'…And that would be the end of Young Pyro's explanation to Lady Tia. I am glad to offer help,' Aeroshadow finished.

Tia turns to Pyro. "Okay, Pyro, I believe your story. And I forgive you."

Pyro faces his other friends and opens his arms wide. Cinder runs to him and lets Pyro hug her. Vagrant smiled at them. Fireworks, next to her, seemed to growl slowly. Vagrant, whose ears were sharp and keen, heard him and understood very well; he is clearly jealous. Looks like Fireworks really do love Cinder.

"Kei, thanks for everything. I…"

"It's okay. I never really did anything, though. Don't thank me."

Without warning, Tia hugs Kei, leaving his cheeks rosy pink and warm. Once she had let go of him, he stuttered,

"L-Let me… err, accompany you guys back… The Jagged Pass can be a nightmare in the night like this."

"That is so thoughtful of you…" Tia smiles softly.

Once in Lavaridge, Naomi and Edward were surprised, seeing Aeroshadow talk, but glad that they found Pyro safe.

Edward yawned and told the others that he wanted a good night's sleep.

"Okay, goodnight, Edward," bids Naomi. "Tia, come on, we should turn in too."

"Yes. Goodnight, Kei. Be careful on your way home."

"Right. Bye, see you later."

The two girls watched Kei leave for a while and get inside the house with all their Pokemon.

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Tia rolled onto her back. For some reason she could not sleep. Why? She had sensed a worried aura from someone all night long. She finally gave up and brought herself up. Covering herself with a night robe, she walks quietly between the Summer siblings to the door. She closed it, trying hard not to make it creak.

In the hall room, Tia sensed the aura strongest. She turned on the lights carelessly and saw Aeroshadow, who was left to sleep perched on the coat hanger, still not sleeping.

"Aeroshadow? Why are you so depressed?"

'Lady Angel! You knew about my sorrow?'

"I've been sensing your troubled feelings all night. What is wrong?"

'… I suppose I need to tell someone how I feel sooner or later… It would best be you.'

Aeroshadow takes a deep breath and released it all away before starting.

'I was a stray hatchling in a flock of stray Murkrows… and people always looked down on Murkrows. They thought we brought them bad luck and filth… I tried to show my kin that I could convince humans to live in peace with us. I flew to one human boy and tried to play nice with him. He shunned me away, thinking I was trying to attack him. His mother saw me and hit me hard. My fellow friends who were watching close by were hit as well. Soon, more of them were harming us with stones and such…

'I was blamed for everything. I was sent away by my own flesh and blood. No one ever wanted to see me again. I flew, with pain in my body and heart… I was nursing my wing when I heard a bell ringing. I landed near a school. Everyday I learned like a human child would. And soon, my squawks and caws turned to words I am speaking now. I've decided to continue my dream; to bring peace with the humans. My kin has yet not known of my wisdom.'

"You were thinking of the old flock…?" Tia asked.

'Yes… I do miss them; my family and friends. But my journey still has not finished. So far I've only explored Johto and Orre. I have yet to see the Orange Islands, Kanto, Shinou and probably more regions in this world. I have only landed myself in Hoenn for 2 weeks. I wish to follow you, Lady Angel, and continue my quest. I will stay loyal to you.'

"Thank you, Aeroshadow…" whispered Tia. "But…"

Aeroshadow lifted an eyebrow.

"They are your brethrens!"

He sighed.

'They had the courage to banish me. I should have the courage to desert them of my own will.'

Tia opens her mouth to protest but Aeroshadow hushed her before any sound came out.

'But no, I am not deserting them. I just want to collect enough proof that even Murkrows can be as intelligent as a human.'

"…I guess you are right there…"

'Now, I feel much better confessing this problem to you. I could have gone mad if I didn't.'

Tia understood his feeling. Even though we might appear calm and happy on the outside, no one could ever really tell what we are experiencing inside our minds. That was why Tia always voiced her thoughts to her Pokemon friends. She just wanted to let someone know, other than her, herself.

"Okay, Aeroshadow, you should go to sleep now that you've calmed down a bit."

'Thank you… Tia.'

Tia smiles and runs her two fingers softly under Aeroshadow's cheek. He actually enjoyed the touch and rubbed his head against her hand in return. After the mute thank you, the female angel turns back to Naomi's room to sleep.


	10. Home sweet home

Chapter 10 – Home sweet home

"So, you'll be leaving now, huh?" Naomi asked uncomfortably.

"Yeah. There's someone who is missing us a lot back at our home," Tia replied, imagining Liner crying over her disappearance with a slight smile. He seems to be a big fan of her and usually cries and sulks whenever she leaves without telling him. This time, though, he seemed to have forgotten to follow her.

"We'll be sure to miss you. Fortree City is a far walk from here," Edward chimed in.

"Don't worry, I'll visit you guys whenever I need to see Kei at the Day Care," Tia assured them.

Just as she was about to set off, Naomi thought of something and runs to her to tell the idea.

"Hey, why don't all three of us travel together? We'd make the perfect team!" she suggested, holding out her arms.

Edward's face lit up in surprise. "Yeah! You're right, Naomi! That way, we won't have to separate!"

At this, Tia turns uncomfortable. Her expression barely changed, though, as she thought of an excuse.

"Uh, will your family give us the permission?"

"Why, of course! We're 16! That's old enough to make our own decisions!"

"Um, well, you see… Uh, I-I don't think my family will agree to that. See, they're very protective of me."

"But, you came all the way here all by yourself, not to mention your Pokemon, of course."

"Yeah, Tia, I'm sure they'll let you travel far with two more people and 12 more Pokemon than you alone. We'll be safe. Besides, they're letting you stay here for 3 days, right? I didn't hear any word from you about them calling to come back home."

Both Edward and Naomi stare at Tia.

"Err, I still have to ask for their permission first. I'd be in the soup if they found out I'm travelling away with two new friends without telling them."

Naomi thought for a while. "Okay, how about this? We'll come to your house and try to persuade your family ourselves. You know, let them get to know us, first."

A bead of sweat breaks on Tia's forehead. "Um, no, not today. I have a feeling they'll hit the rooftop once I get home. Well, I can't have that with you guys at home. It'll look too rude."

"Can you at least give us your address so that we can come some other day? Call us," Edward asks.

"Oh, that… Uh, we just moved to Fortree and I don't seem to remember our own address yet. Heh, silly me!" she laughs shakily.

Exchanging glances, Edward and Naomi finally said goodbye to Shadow Inferno. Tia sets off with Aeroshadow on her shoulder, Cinder in her arms and the rest walking around her. They take the usual road back home, across the sea on Route 118. With the help of Vagrant's ice powers –she created an ice path for them to walk on–, they were able to reach the other side with no problems.

By late afternoon, they reached their secret base -their home- after trekking for a short distance in the forests of Route 119. Tia pushed away the vines that were placed in front of the wooden door she had installed herself and went inside with the others after unlocking it.

"I'm sorry, Aeroshadow. You might have expected much more than this…" apologised Tia as she dropped her bag onto the wooden floor by sliding it down her shoulder and arm. Then she took off her jacket and hangs it on one poking branch from the leafy wall that surrounded the secret base, similar to the leaf canopy that acted as the roof.

'No, no. Don't be ridiculous. This home is quite creatively-made. A refined work of art, I must say. You turned this old clump of grass into a spacious room and turned it into your house. Very clever,' Aeroshadow praised, looking around with his dark orbs.

The secret base is indeed very spacious. It is rectangular and separates the two rooms by two walls, creating a hallway in the middle. There are a few posters and pictures hung on the walls. A pot of colourful plants is placed at the end of the hallway.

One room is Tia's bedroom, complete with a Soft Bed, a large cabinet and a Comfort Desk. A large custom-made Shadow Inferno carpet covers the floor. The bedspread is black while the pillow and blanket are reddish orange in colour. There are Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic and Sneasel dolls on the bed. Tia sewed them whenever she had free time. And now, she needs to add a Houndour, Poochyena and Murkrow doll each. A stack of books and papers, some stationeries and a small PC lay on the Comfort Desk.

Another room is both a small kitchen and the TV room. Tia had placed a small TV next to the refrigerator. The two electrical appliances are being run with electricity provided by a portable generator. To cook, she won't need anything but gas and fire. That way, her home doesn't need complicated wirings and plugs.

On top of each window is some sort of lamp. They too are not run by electricity. During the day, the lamp absorbs light during the day and by night, it will use all the absorbed light lighting up the secret base, as bright as day.

"Thanks, Aeroshadow. Even though Fortree offers a natural home in the tall trees, I will not live there."

'Why?'

"Because, as an angel, I will drive away all the darkness in a human. But I must limit myself from staying with them for too long. Say, 6 days or more."

'What could have happened then? Is it not a good thing to push darkness away from everyone?'

"Well, I agree. It _is_ a good thing," she nodded and continued. "But the sudden leaving of an angel's presence would cause a sudden rush of darkness swelling them over. All the darkness that had been pushed away came back in a wrath of its dark strong force. This can cause the victim to mentally crash and die. This is what we call a Dark Crash. A Dark Walk, however, is when a human starts to _think_ dark and _act_ dark. This may attract a Blind Shados to a human."

'Shouldn't there be something that could prevent the Dark Walk or Dark Crash?'

"Only an angel's feather. It shouldn't be presented to the victim immediately though, the result would just be the same as a Dark Crash. Darkness is pushed away faster than it can return. The feather gives off a constant Twilight energy, giving the holder enough time for his darkness to return safely without causing a Dark Walk. That is why I chose to leave Naomi's house today and why I didn't want to travel as a team with her and Edward. Besides, I haven't got a single good feather on me now."

'What do you mean?'

Tia summoned her ruined wings out of her body and showed them to Aeroshadow. He hung his head down in sorry. Tia summarized what happened in the desert 3 days ago.

After having his thoughts cleared about her wings, Aeroshadow asked, 'Just now you said something about a Blind Shados?'

"It is the first level of darkness an angel can detect. These natures are of a dark entity, but the Shados isn't as strong in a younger human. It is rare to find one in an old person.

"The second level is the Haunted Shados. A human with a Haunted Shados usually were Blind Shados. Haunted Shados occurs when a Blind Shados develops with more abilities. I can easily find a Haunted Shados if they are training their body for a wicked deed they plan to return. Any human can bypass the Haunted Shados depending on the experience. It is unknown how, but any human can simply "choose" to be evil, and live with the deeds he or she commits.

"Shados Trauma, the final level, is a very dangerous entity. No human can attain Shados Trauma simply by being evil. Being a Shados Trauma means being born with this entity. Every Human on the planet has a Shados Trauma, but no Pokemon is capable of having a Shados Trauma. The Shados Trauma is a subsided effect. It is usually unnoticed because the other humans' emotions are in effect. Sometimes, the Shados Trauma even completely disappears. However, there is a high chance of this Shados being… triggered.

"When the effects of revenge or trauma, as the name implies, breach a certain corruption point, the Shados Trauma is activated. Such criminals, government officials, even ordinary humans, are afflicted by this Shados, but because of their lack of abilities, it doesn't immediately threaten the human race. However, if a human afflicted by the Shados Trauma has such power, there is a chance that they will use this evil to corrupt others like they have been corrupted."

'I see…'

Both are quiet for a moment before Tia's head shot up in realization.

"Oh, Aeroshadow, I just remembered something! Could you stay here with the team for a while? I need to get someone."

'Why, of course. I will wait,' he replies carelessly, thoughts of the Shados entity swirling in his mind.

Without putting on her jacket, Tia walks out the door and between the tall grasses, she walks deeper into the forest that nearly circles the big Fortree City. She looks for a big hole on the ground and once she finally does, she crouches down and peered down the deep hole. It is actually a burrowing hole of her friend. She called for him,

"Liner, are you home? I am."

Almost immediately, Liner pops his head out of the hole, his nose hitting Tia's. The happy and excited Linoone licks the bridge of her nose, causing her to giggle.

'Lin-li-li-noone!' he cried.

"It's nice to see you, too."

Liner scurries back into his home and comes back later with some items he had picked up for her.

"Oh, Liner, will you ever stop picking things up randomly?" she asked with a lopsided smile.

'Li-li-noone-lin-noone…' It's not like the Trainers who dropped those items would want them, anyway, he grumbled quietly to himself.

"Oh, well, anyway… There's someone I want you to meet. Come on to the secret base."

Later in Tia's room, Liner almost feared Aeroshadow's wisdom. He had never seen anything like it. He thought he was a devil.

"Liner, don't fear him. He is a friend."

Upon hearing Tia's confident voice, Liner walks slowly over to Aeroshadow and said something to him. Mysteriously, he answered back in his mother language. Tia never knew what they talked about.

That night, Tia brewed soup for everyone and they ate under the array of sparkling stars that formed various constellations. Blue-black hues appeared before their eyes but with the full moon's shine, they could easily see in the night.

"Look, that's the Scorpio, in between Libra and Sagittarius," Tia tells the Pokemon as she pointed to each constellation she had mentioned.

'The Aries is in between Pisces and Taurus,' Aeroshadow explains as well.

After eating, the night air started to get colder, so everyone retreated back inside.

Tia starts sewing the Poochyena doll first while Cinder and Little Fang watch. Bones nipped on Little Fang's ear, trying to get her play with him. She keeps pawing at his head, shunning him away. He drops his head at last and trots over to Pyro and Fireworks, who were talking about Cinder's battle with David's Nidorino. At least Pyro's got a topic to get Fireworks talking to him. They stopped abruptly, seeing Bones's glum face.

'Hn, what's wrong with you?' Fireworks asks carelessly.

'Little Fang won't play with me…' he whined.

'She wants to see Tia sewing a doll, can't you see?'

'But… I want her to notice me…'

Fireworks and Pyro's heads tilted up a bit higher.

'You mean…'

'…Yeah.'

So now they know, Bones likes Little Fang. No wonder he was always with her. Apparently, it's obvious that Little Fang doesn't seem to notice the affectionate feelings.

'Guys, what am I supposed to do?'

'You mean, what are you supposed to do now or what are you supposed to do about her?' Pyro asks, confused.

'Uh, both?'

Fireworks shakes his head slowly and sighs. 'Why don't you come and talk with us for now? That way, you'll get distracted and won't think much about her.'

Vagrant, who is learning how to read with the help of Aeroshadow and a novel Tia had read, 'Worm in the Blood', had been listening to the boys.

'_Wow, they are growing up little by little…'_ she thought.

'And this one, Lady Vagrant, is an F.' He stopped and scolded her. 'Are you even listening to me?'

'I'm sorry, Sir Aeroshadow. I was just thinking of the young ones growing up.'

'Well, you should not abandon your lessons while you are in the middle of it. Learn how to concentrate. Now, what is this letter called?'

'It is an F, sir.'

'Good,' Aeroshadow remarked, satisfied.

Tia pokes the sharp needle into the fabric to create the doll. Handling with her graceful fingers, soon the thread creates a pattern of criss-crosses. She leaves an opening first, where the Mareep wool will be stuffed in through. Cinder pecked on a bit of the wool and places it in the hole. Little Fang helped pushing it in further with her small paws.

Once the wool is in, Tia continues sewing the doll together, the doll finally taking shape. Then, Tia draws in the Poochyena's eyes and sewed on a small red round button for the nose. The fangs are made of broken pieces of white chalk, stuck at the corner of the mouth.

"Now, what should I use for the bristly tail?" Tia thought out loud.

'Maybe we could use Little Fang's actual fur on it!' Vagrant jokes, slashing out her large, sharp claws.

Little Fang's eyes widened and yipped in fright. Aeroshadow actually chuckled shortly at the joke and then immediately regained a normal expression. Pyro laughed too.

"Hey, guys, what's so funny?" Tia asks, confused.

Aeroshadow translated Vagrant's joke and she too, giggled.

"Good suggestion, Vagrant. Maybe we should just do that," Tia continued the joke. Seeing Little Fang's frightened face, she called out that it was just a joke. "I do need something to complete her bristled tail fur, though…"

She finally came up with a sewn fabric as the tail. Overall, it looks like Little Fang herself, who is very excited of the littler version of her.

"Can you put the doll on the bed for me, Little Fang?" Tia asks her, handing her the doll and she nipped the small body of the doll carefully with her big fangs in the way. She jumps on the bed and places the doll slowly along with the others.

With a signal from Pyro, Bones trots over to Little Fang. Vagrant and Aeroshadow watch Bones silently from the corner of their eyes.

He seems to be walking proudly in front of her. She impatiently waits for him to get out of the way. She wants to watch more of Tia's sewing work and he's blocking her way with his "big fat head", she says. Bones dropped his head and gets out of her way, walking weakly over to Pyro and Fireworks.

'Boy, she's a hard one, eh?' Fireworks said.

'Yeah, she's really oblivious to you,' Pyro said and added, '…with that personality of hers.'

Right after Tia finished sewing a Houndour doll, it was time to sleep. Everyone takes their own personal and favourite place to sleep; Tia on her bed, with Little Fang at her feet, Cinder in the leafy wall of the secret base, a restless Bones sleeping under the bed for some reason, Fireworks curled up and Pyro lying with his mouth open on the wide carpet, taking a side each, Aeroshadow perched on the chair and Vagrant leaning against the wall, fast asleep.

By the way, Little Fang has the Houndour doll cuddled in between her paws.

* * *

Author's note : Oh, ain't that just cute? Anyway, R & R! 


	11. Training battles

Author's note : Hi, everyone! I'm back with chapters!

* * *

**Shadow Inferno **

Chapter 11 – Training battles 

Tia slowly opens her eyes and sits up. Aeroshadow, who had woken up earlier along with Vagrant, greets her a good morning. She nods in reply. The cool air preserved by the little dewy leaves made her lazy to stay awake. Little Fang stirs and stretches, filling her body with rejuvenation. She puts the Houndour doll next to the Poochyena doll and jumps down from the bed. Peeking under it, she nibbled on Bones's nose to get him to open his eyes. He did and yawned. Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder and Liner are starting to get up as well.

Tia goes to the kitchen and takes out a stale of bread from the dry spot and a bottle of jam and some butter from the refrigerator. With a butter knife, she spreads butter and jam on slices of bread to serve as breakfast. Once breakfast is finished, the young Pokemon go into Tia's room to play. Tia, Liner, Vagrant and Aeroshadow sit together in the kitchen for a while longer.

"Well, what do we do today?"

Vagrant tells Aeroshadow her idea, 'Get out and battle more. It would be good training.'

"Ah, you're right. I think I might be going somewhere one day. Perhaps the Battle Frontier…"

And so it was decided that they explore to find Trainers who would battle them. Following the rules, Tia could only bring 6 Pokemon with her for battle. But since Aeroshadow and Liner do not have their own PokeBalls and they are not meant for battles, Tia technically did not break them.

Before they set off, Tia did something to her back to hide the burnt marks. She applies some cream that matches her skin colour, covering the markings. It can only wear off with a special liquid that goes with it so when it rains, her markings would still be hidden.

They set off, heading towards Fallarbor Town. Tia sees the Bird Keeper, Hugh but he declined to battle her. He did show to a Kindler and a Ninja Boy if she wanted a good battle. They agreed. Tia decided to send Pyro and Fireworks into the battle but Fireworks was confident.

'I bet I could defeat both Pokemon all on my own,' cocked Fireworks to Pyro. 'These guys are easy!'

Tia allowed Fireworks to shine today. She lets him battle by himself. Should he be in any trouble; Pyro will join and help. Pyro only huffed and started grumbling to himself as he finds a place to sit and watch the battle.

'Be careful, Fireworks…' whispered Cinder and Fireworks only smirked assuring.

**Battle Situation : **

**_Dayton's Numel_ and _Takashi's Ninjask _vs. _Tia's Cyndaquil, Fireworks _**

**This will be a one on two battle with no substitution or time limit **

**_BATTLE__ BEGIN! _**

"Fireworks, use Flame Wheel on Ninjask!"

'Cyn-da-quil!'

He blasts out a trail of flame from his mouth that circle around the Bug Pokemon, burning him. Ninjask flapped his wings fast to blow the fire away but the fire burned more and grew bigger.

"Numel, kick sand on Ninjask to put out the fire!" shouted Dayton. "And fast!" he added.

Numel, being naturally slow, did not really understand what his Trainer wanted him to do. He ponders for a moment to think carefully about what he was told to do. Once he had figured it out, taking 3 minutes, he slowly walks over to the buzzing Ninjask who is being tortured in a raging blaze at that time. Dayton and Takashi kept their hands cupped to their mouths screaming, "Faster! Faster!" while jumping up and down.

'Nearly… there…!' Numel said to himself and he finally reached his partner proudly for he had done his job.

'HELP! HELP ME, YOU DIMWIT!'

Numel was confused. "Huh, what? I walked over to you. I did what I was told, didn't I?'

'YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO- AW, F-!'

Ninjask fainted.

'Hey, man, why are you falling asleep? We're in the middle of a battle here!' He pokes the barbequed bug and backs away to see if he moves. Seeing that he didn't, Numel said, 'Oh well, at least _I_ can still battle… Right, Dayton, ol' buddy?'

Dayton and Takashi are both hugging their legs to their chests, rocking about and muttering, "Why me…? Why…?" with tears in their eyes.

'Hey, dimwit! Look here!' shouted Fireworks.

That pissed Numel off.

'What? Nobody calls me dimwit! Well, except my Mom and Dad, and brothers and sisters, Gramps and Granny too, and Dayton, and my team mates, Ninjask included, and there's this random Bird Keeper whose name I have forgotten, and our challengers and…'

'Look, okay, we got it!' shouted Pyro and Fireworks exasperatedly.

'But I'm not done yet!'

'This is pathetic. Let me just end the battle now,' said Fireworks in annoyance.

'W-wait! Let… let me juggle for you! Everyone loves a good clown act!'

'Watch out for the Headbutt!' Fireworks charged and rammed his head against Numel. His Headbutt attack totally knocked Numel cold.

"Okay, fine! We lost! Here, take some money for your journey…"

With that done, Dayton recalled Numel into his PokeBall and ran away really, really fast. Takashi threw a smoke bomb and disappeared. Tia is left standing rooted to a spot with only a few coins in her palm.

"O… kay… On to the next battle!"

Usually a Parasol Lady and a Bird Keeper are here, waiting for challengers but they don't seem to be here today so Tia continues on. She gives Jackson, the Pokemon Ranger a short salute sign, who replies the salute.

"Good day, there, Tia. Where are you going?" he asks.

"Just looking for battles. I'm planning to train my Pokemon. I think I might go to the Battle Frontier one day…"

"That's quite a dream."

"Yes, except that it's not going to be just a dream. I want it to happen."

"Okay, you sound good. Come on, let me battle you."

"Alright, let's go, Vagrant!"

'Char-char!'

"Huh? You want to battle? Pyro, I don't think you're ready yet…"

'Char-man-der!'

Seeing how determined he is Tia had to let him in. But she had an uneasy feeling. As an angel, she is able to know a Pokemon's level when she sees one. And she knows Breloom is too strong for Pyro.

**Battle Situation : **

**_Jackson's Breloom _vs. _Tia's Charmander, Pyro _**

**This will be a one on one battle with no substitution or time limit **

**_BATTLE__ BEGIN! _**

"Breloom, Tackle attack!"

"Pyro, jump and use Ember!"

The mushroom Pokemon charges for Pyro, running with light footwork. Pyro managed to jump up just in time and mouthed out flames at Breloom. Breloom evaded the fire and hits Pyro repeatedly with virtually invisible punches, Mach Punch. Pyro fell down with a few bruises on him. He was still able to battle, though. He gets up with weak limbs and could hardly stand straight.

'Ch… Char!'

Pyro breathed out a blazing flame from his mouth, aiming at Breloom. The attack hit, but it wasn't enough to knock Breloom out yet.

"Breloom, stun him with your Stun Spores!"

Breloom scatters yellow spores from holes in the cap of its head. The Stun Spores reached Pyro and he felt as if an electrifying wave is making its way throughout his body that disabled him to move not even a single limb. As Breloom was about to start his Mach Punch technique again, Pyro smirked and jumped out of the way.

'What? But you were paralyzed! I saw that you couldn't move!'

'Ever heard of a word called trick?'

Pyro scratched at Breloom's face, who screamed in pain. Pyro grabs Breloom's waving tail and proceeded to bite the seeds ringing it. His mistake is that the seeds are actually made of hardened toxic spores. The moment his teeth sank into the hardened spores, the expression on his face turned sick.

"Pyro!" Tia called worriedly.

"Breloom, spin your tail around!"

Breloom did what he was told and spun around, his tail swinging with the nauseous Pyro holding on to it. He is thrown into a bush. There is no sign of movement in the bush for 10 seconds, causing Tia to check on Pyro. She found out that he was fainted.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pyro wakes up on a bed in the Weather Institute with all his friends and Jackson's Breloom surrounding him. Tia and Jackson are having a conversation, leaning on the wall. Everyone was relieved to see him awake and let out long sighs.

'Hey, Pyro, sorry about what happened… I thought you knew not to eat the seeds… They're poisonous.' said Breloom.

'It's okay… It's all part of Pokemon battles. I'm good. At least now I know something new.'

Breloom patted on Pyro's back lightly. To Breloom's shock, Pyro screamed in agonizing pain.

'Holy mushroom! Pyro, I'm so sorry! I really-!'

Pyro laughed and said, 'Just kidding!' Breloom relaxed and they smiled at each other. Fireworks chuckled secretly at the word 'Holy mushroom'.

"Jeez, Pyro, you really like to mess around, do you?" said Jackson.

"That's my Pyro!" Tia said proudly.

They exited the Weather Institute and walk all the way back to Jackson's stationed spot. Tia crosses the wooden bridge that connects the separated land to reach another Pokemon Ranger, Catherine, who also receives a salute from her. The waterfall she sees from the bridge roars loudly. Chris, the Fisherman is concentrating really hard on his line. He seems to have caught something big.

"Got the big one, eh, Chris?" Tia called over to him.

"It's not a fish, this one, I tell ya'!" he grunted back, straining to pull the rod.

He finally gets the catch and reels in the line with ease. He has a big grin on his face. At the end of the line is… a boot.

"My lucky fishing boot!" Chris shouted in glee.

Tia breaks a sweat on her forehead. "Err, that's really good, Chris… Congrats… Bye for now…"

She leaves the man kissing his wet boot alone. Further along is a ramble of very tall grasses. It is said to snare bike tyres. Who knows what might creep in there? She calls out Vagrant to cut the grass for her. She happily does her job along with Liner. The coast is clear and they don't see any wild Pokemon that crosses their path. That was, until Vagrant accidentally slashes the leg of a rare Tropius. The tree-fruit-like Pokemon lets out a deafening cry of pain. Vagrant slowly backs away from it. Liner scurries away and hides in between the tall grasses. Aeroshadow stays perched on Tia's shoulder.

"Pyro, Fireworks, Cinder, Little Fang and Bones, come out and start your special training!" Tia threw all five PokeBalls to release the five Pokemon she had called. "Your task is to defeat or scare away this Tropius!"

'What Tropius?' Pyro asks. 'There is no Tropius around here!'

Two loud, thundering footsteps are heard, followed by a looming shadow that covers the small five Pokemon. All five of them turn around and look up. A Tropius with a hurt leg glares down to them.

'I guess that answers my question…'

'Shut up and let's defeat this guy! Burn him down!' Fireworks told him.

'Okay! Bones and I will use our Ember attacks from his right side! You and Cinder burn him from the left! Little Fang, Bite him as hard as you could, on his wounded leg!' ordered Pyro.

Everyone nods and got to their respective positions. Together, they attack with high temperature; fire. Little Fang holds on to the Tropius's leg, even when he stomps his feet around to get rid of her and because his wings are on fire. He finally forfeits and flees into the air, flying away.

"Alright, good job, guys! That really scared the Tropius away!" Tia said. "Come now, back into your PokeBalls. And Liner," she holds back a giggle. "You can come out now."

'Li-noone…' he grinned, embarrassed.

* * *

Author's note : I'm sorry I'm not really good at battles but you know I'll try harder. Okay?


	12. I love you berry much!

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 12 – I love you berry much!

Liner and Vagrant continue cutting the tall grass and alas, they had cleared a path. Tia returns Vagrant back into her PokeBall. She walks to the Berry Master's house and sees the lovable twins, Miu and Yuki having a picnic with the old couple who owns the place and Violet, the Aroma Lady under the berry trees. They waved cheerily at Tia and invited her to the picnic. Just realizing that she is a little hungry, she accepts the invitation. Her Pokemon join in the picnic, too. There are a variety of berries; common ones and rare ones.

The Pokemon dig into the fruity treats hungrily. They pick their own favourite berries and dared each other to try out a new flavour, ones that they haven't seen or heard of before.

'This is fun! I've never tasted this kind of flavour before!' cried Cinder. 'Thanks, Pyro.'

Fireworks turns his head sharply. Cinder and Pyro are laughing, exchanging their opinions about which berries they like. They seem to have a lot in common. He likes dry-tasting berries while Cinder and Pyro both like sweet berries.

'_I mustn't give up!'_ he thinks ferociously.

He finally seeks out for Vagrant's advices, who had expected him to come sooner or later about this.

'Hey, Vagrant… I want to-'

'…Talk about Cinder?'

'Shh, not so loud!' he warned and said reluctantly, 'But, yes… It was… kinda obvious to you, huh?'

'Yup,' she replies with a grin.

'Well, what should I do? She's too close with Pyro I would've thought she likes him, instead! I mean, does she?'

'Relax, Fireworks… If you want, I can find out about her favourite male for you. It'll be easy.'

'… …'

'You know, I would have taken that as a yes.'

'…Alright, okay, you can. I… I'm sure you know what you're doing. Thanks.'

'No prob!'

"Hey, Violet, do you want to spar with my Pokemon?"

"Sure, Tia, let's battle now," said the brunette, putting down her basket full of fragranced berries, typically.

Violet calls out her Gloom and Roselia while Tia sends Little Fang and Bones into the battle.

**Battle Situation :**

**_Violet's Gloom_ and_ Roselia_ vs. _Tia's Poochyena, Little Fang _and _Houndour, Bones_**

**This will be a two on two battle with no substitution or time limit**

_**BATTLE BEGIN!**_

Little Fang takes a whiff out of the air. 'Yuk! What's that smell?'

'I think it's that Gloom's saliva…' Bones wrinkled his nose.

'Well, actually, it's honey,' said Aeroshadow from a tree branch.

'It still smells bad,' argued Bones.

'Let me take care of that problem!' Roselia said and she released a Sweet Scent coming from her flowers.

In a quick second, the air is already full of fragrance that could toy with someone's mind.

'Sorry, little miss pretty-face, but that won't work on me even with my acute sense of smell! Hyargh!'

Little Fang rammed herself into Roselia. She falls down and skidded on the ground roughly. Little Fang's strong Tackle attack was effective. She then bristles out her tail fur at Gloom, trying to scare her wits out. Roselia, who had gotten up, unseen by Little Fang sneaks attack on her.

"Little Fang, watch out behind you!" Tia cried.

By the time she turns around to look, Roselia had already fired her Poison Sting at her. The sharp missile shoots itself from her head and wounds Little Fang's front paw. The poisonous liquid from the thorn is being injected into Little Fang. She yelps in pain and cried for help from Bones. She looks at Bones, who is already dazed by the strong fragrance. He is now dreaming about something really good, not giving attention to the battle at all.

'Let's just finish this little girl, first. Once she's down, we'll take out the dreamy one,' said Gloom as she readies herself for her Absorb technique.

Little Fang thinks quickly and proceeds to bite Bones front limb. He immediately snaps out of his dream and bears an angry look on his face.

'Bite Frenzy…' whispers Little Fang, with a weak smirk.

Bones gets her idea and charges at the two Grass-typed Pokemon, snapping his jaws. Roselia and Gloom realize how dangerous that is and run to avoid him. Bones chases them into a corner. He bares his teeth at them, jumps and bites them, tearing Roselia's flowers and Gloom's weeds. The two females shrieked in fear.

Gloom tries to cover Bones from nose to tail with poisonous purple Acid but the attack missed. While Bones is busy avoiding Gloom's Acid, Roselia uses her Magical Leaf to hit the nearly unconscious Little Fang. The attack never misses its target and when it struck Little Fang, she yelped in pain again.

Bones stopped short when he hears Little Fang's cry. He jumps over a trail of Acid to reach Gloom and Roselia.

'Hey, you two, over here! Come and get me!'

Roselia and Gloom both head for Bones together. And they fall into his trap. He got them close together and uses his strongest Ember attack on them.

'Nooooo!' come the wailing cries of Gloom and Roselia as the fire eats up their flame-weakness body.

Violet summoned the two back into their PokeBalls. Bones and Tia run to Little Fang to check on her condition. Bones nips the thorn in her paw and spits it out. He licks her wound and cheek.

"Here, Tia. Give her this Pecha berry," Violet hands Tia small peach-like berry.

She puts the berry in Little Fang's mouth and lets her chew on it slowly. Soon enough, she recovers from her poisoned status. Still weak from the attacks she took; she remains lying down on the ground. With a Sitrus berry from the Berry Master's basket, Little Fang feels rejuvenated again after regaining health.

"Now, who wants more berries?" said the Berry Master's wife, coming from the door with another full basket of assorted berries.

A few hands and claws shoot up into the air. With a grin, the elder woman lays down the basket in the middle of the mat there were sitting on. Everyone continues to grab their favourite berries.

With a nod from Fireworks, Bones walks over to Little Fang. He stops for a short gulp.

'Um, hey, Little Fang, do you… want to take a walk…? With me…?'

'Sure, Bones. I want to strengthen my legs again after that battle,' she said cheerily.

"Bones, Little Fang, don't wander off too far now, okay?" Tia called to them, seeing them leave.

Bones brings her to the quiet forest. It seems to be a better place to confess to her, he thinks. Second by second passes. With every step he takes, he feels smaller and smaller. He finally stops abruptly, causing Little Fang to turn back to him.

'Bones, what's the matter?'

'L-Little Fang… I… The reason I brought you here was because… well, I wanted you to know… that I… I love you,' he stuttered.

Little Fang is taken aback. She was not expecting this at all. 'Bones…' she said slowly.

'Little Fang, do you return my love for you...?'

'Bones…' she has a faint smile on her.

'Yes, I knew it!'

'Bones!'

He stops jumping in joy. He turns to look at her. 'Yes, my love?'

'Bones, don't call me that… I can't… I can't accept this…' she shakes her head.

'What…?' Bones felt like his fragile heart is shattering to a million, pathetic, small pieces.

'I don't… feel the same way you do…' she explains. 'I'm sorry…'

Little Fang finds it hard to look at her sullen friend. He turns his back on her and does not look back.

'It's okay, Little Fang… Come on, let's go back to the others…' he said quietly.

Somehow, she knows that it's _not_ okay at all but followed suit behind him anyway. Because of their padded paws, the ground did not crunch underneath them and both did not dare to create even a single sound. The silence could have practically killed them. It seemed to stay that way forever, the seconds felt like a long minute.

Once they see the others, still munching happily on berries and talking, Little Fang takes one last look at Bones and runs over to Pyro and Cinder to join them. Without looking up, Bones walks to Fireworks with weak steps. Fireworks could guess what happened and did not push Bones to tell him if it hurts too much.

'Fireworks… I want to become stronger.'

'Hn?'

'I want you to train me. I want to become stronger,' Bones repeated in a serious tone.

'I understand.'

They nodded to each other secretly.


	13. Mauville City

**Shadow Inferno **

Chapter 13 - Mauville City 

Leaving and thanking the Berry Master, Tia continues her way to see a running Bug Catcher, Davis and an annoyed-looking Cooltrainer, Jazmyn. The two Bird Keepers, Perry and Chester watched in amusement.

"Davis, will you _ever_ stop running like that?" she asks.

"Nope!" was the panted reply.

"Hey, how about a battle?" Tia interrupts, with Vagrant and Cinder's PokeBalls in hand.

"Alright, as long as it'll keep him from running all the time to death."

**Battle Situation : **

**_Jazmyn's Absol _and_ Davis's Pinsir _vs. _Tia's Sneasel, Vagrant_ and _Torchic, Cinder_ **

**This will be a two on two battle with no time limit **

**_BATTLE BEGIN!_ **

"Absol..." "Vagrant..."

"...Slash attack!" Jazmyn and Tia cried in unison.

Vagrant's claws and Absol's blade meet with a loud clang. The two keep swinging their means of attack wildly, hoping to hit each other but with failure. Their fight kept on followed by clanging noises.

"Pinsir, use Vicegrip on the Torchic!" commanded Davis.

The horns on Pinsir's head begin to move menacingly towards Cinder. Frightened, she runs away with clumsy steps. Pinsir tries to chase her but his speed could not match hers. Once he finally closed in to Cinder, his pincers snapped at her. Luckily, she managed to jump up and landed on them. Pinsir moves his horns, trying to shake Cinder off him but she held on to one pincer with the help of the thorns protruding from it as perches.

Cinder has an idea. Feeling the fire from her stomach, she brings it up to her throat, pecks Pinsir on the head and releasing the fire at the same time. It was a combination of Peck and Ember techniques. With Pinsir panicking, she jumps off from him and stays as far as possible from the burning bug.

"Vagrant, use Icy Wind!" Tia said.

Vagrant evades Absol's last attack, backing away, and tries to summon the cold wind from her body but he prevented her from doing so by slashing at her gold jewel embedded on her chest. Missing it by a hair's breadth, Vagrant could not give full attention to her summoning, failing to call up an Icy Wind and continues slashing at Absol.

With a strong blow, her claws and Absol's blades produced small sparks once met. Their weapons stayed locked together for a few seconds, which gave Vagrant a chance to blow a minor Icy Wind into Absol's eyes. He roared in pain, trying to claw at his eyes.

Vagrant managed to call the ice within her and blows a strong Icy Wind, striking Pinsir and Absol. Pinsir, disliking cold by nature, quickly digs a burrowing hole and hides in it. Cinder uses her chance to burn Pinsir while he is trapped in the hole. He fainted right at the spot. Davis recalls Pinsir back into his PokeBall with a sigh.

'Now, I want to deal with you!' Vagrant said through gritted teeth, referring to Absol, who is half frozen with bits of ice on parts of his body.

Absol uses his Pursuit technique on Vagrant and keeps her attention on him.

'You really are keeping me enthralled by your fight,' Absol tells her.

'Good.'

Vagrant robbed Absol's Sitrus berry sneakily, with Thief being her specialty and chews on it to get more energy. Absol did not even see her take the berry from him. Gaining up strength, she lifts Absol up and throws him away as far as she was able to. The impact Absol took from hitting the ground was heavy. He fainted right away.

Perry and Chester clapped their hands and cheered.

"You put up a good fight, Absol," Jazmyn said before summoning him back into his PokeBall.

"Thanks for the battle, Jazmyn and Davis!" Tia thanked them before taking off her boots.

Holding them with one hand, she got onto Liner's back to bring her across to the other side of Route 118. Aeroshadow easily flies over the water. Dalton the wannabe rock star is having a quarrel with Wade the 'patient' fisherman.

"With you and your horrible loud music, you scared away all the fish!" Wade yelled.

"It's not horrible! And it's not my fault my grandmother always fainted whenever I play my guitar back at home!" Dalton yelled back.

"I'm pretty sure she's scared half to death!"

"No, can't you tell a wooing fan when you see one? She loves my music so much that she couldn't stand the excitement, that's all!"

"Can't you play somewhere else?" Wade groaned, not giving up.

"No! This is my favourite place!" Dalton said, in a more dramatic tone, "I can feel the sea wind against my face whenever I play and here is where my inspiration begins!"

"Inspiration, schmation!" Wade spat.

Young Deandre and Aroma Lady Rose watch the bickering men, both not daring to try and stop them.

"Err, Rose, how long has this fight been going on?" Tia asks.

"Long enough, my friend..." she replies, putting a hand on Tia's shoulder.

Tia walks nearer to the fighting men.

"Dalton, Wade... Will you please stop fighting?"

They stopped abruptly, just realizing that Tia was there.

"Oh, Tia, it's you! Sorry you had to hear this, but this is a matter of territory!" Dalton explains.

"So you think it's _your_ territory now, huh?"

"Hey, I was here first!"

"No, I was here way long before you did!"

"Guys! Stop it!" Tia had to shout to be heard over the men's voices. She sighs. "Okay, how about this? Wade can fish on certain days while Dalton can play on certain days, as well. Pick days where you two won't have to meet here. That way, Dalton can play as loud as he wants without Wade complaining and Wade can fish calmly without Dalton's loud music. Alright?"

"You know what, Tia? That's good," Wade said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I'm cool with it. So, Wade, I'll play on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays."

"Perfect! Fish are popular here on Tuesdays! Brilliant!" Wade cried happily.

"Thank you, Tia," they chorused together.

Rose and Deandre are relieved to see that Tia manages to calm both men down.

"Well, I'd best get going now, ta-ta!" Tia bids them goodbye.

Entering Mauville City felt awkward to Tia since she was used to quieter environment. Mauville, being the centre of Hoenn Island, receives all sorts of people from different directions. It is quite a lively city. The popular places there are usually the Pokemon Gym and Mauville Game Corner. Tia checks in to Mauville's Pokemon Center for the night.

Tia allows the nurse to take care of her Pokemon. Slumping down her bag, she sits on the soft bed in her room in the Pokemon Center.

"_Whew, I'm tired and hungry... Better go grab a bite."_

After freshening up, she goes out in search of dinner. Even Liner and Aeroshadow had been left under the nurse's care. Aeroshadow knew better than to speak the human language in front of most people, to avoid unnecessary enemies.

Tia went to many places but all of them failed to match any of her likings. She keeps on wandering about until she bumped into someone.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry!" she cried.

"It's okay," the man replies kindly.

She looked up to see that it was Kei, dressed casually in a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans.

"Kei! You're not at the Day Care today?"

"No, I'm off today. What brings you wandering here, bumping into people?" he asks, grinning.

Tia blushed. "I was travelling in search of battles and I happen to stay here for the night to rest. I'm just looking for dinner."

"Oh? You haven't had your dinner yet? Come, let me buy you something."

"What? Oh, no, you don't have to..."

"But I insist, Tia! Besides, I'm having friends to meet me at this place! Come on!"

"Well... Alright, but this one time only," she grinned at him.

"Okay, deal."

Kei brings her to a restaurant called The Crazy Doug (A/N : That 'Crazy Doug' restaurant name came up randomly. It was suggested by my brother, who just got back from being chased by a crazy dog at that time, actually... We only added a 'U' to make it sound like the restaurant was owned by a guy named Doug. XD). He scans inside the restaurant in search of his friends. He founds them and waved at them. One of them, a girl, waves back excitedly.

"Yo, my brother! Who's this girl with you? Your girlfriend?" said a handsome guy with a unique hairstyle. He has expensive-looking clothes on him. Tia can tell that he comes from a rich, spoiled family though she can sense an empty space in him.

"No, Xavier, she's just a friend..." Kei frowned at him. To Tia, he added, "Xavier Pierre, a macho guy who thinks he can outwit anyone with his looks."

The excited girl from before introduces herself in a proud tone, "I, am Fara Harper. You must be new here." She wears her sunglasses on her head, her hair tied into a ponytail. Her black shirt has the words 'STYLE' written on the front that glitters in pink. It really matches her dark-coloured long skirt. She looks like a very stylish and fashionable girl.

A beautiful young girl who sits next to her speaks quickly, "I'm Myra Armada. Wow, are you a Pokemon Trainer? Are you Kei's girlfriend? No, wait, he just said that you're not... Do you want to hang out with us?" She has a shoulder-less top with white Capri's pants. Her short but well-conditioned black straight hair hangs down to her shoulders.

Another girl chuckles softly. "Excuse her. She always talks like that; with a tone like something is going wrong. I'm Ayumi Miharu." She wears a black and white shirt with a white long skirt to go with. She leaves her long brownish-black hair hanging down half to the waist.

A guy who had been grinning since the start only nods, almost sleepily, at Tia. He wears a long-sleeved shirt with tan-coloured jeans. His hairstyle looks like sea waves. When Fara nudges him, only then did he introduce himself. "Huh? Oh, I'm Shane Nichols. Yeah," he said carelessly, blinking at Tia as if he just snapped out of La-La Land.

Xavier laughed. "Damn, man, you're so blur! And yeah, _he's_ always like that, too."

With a strong Chinese accent, a Chinese guy with spiky black hair raises a hand at her. "Yo! I am Li Ho Weng! You know, like a fly? 'Weng-weng'!" he joked, moving his raised hand around as he made the buzzing sound. Tia giggles.

Lastly, a tall guy with an unusually strange combination of pink shirt and army pants on said relaxingly, "And I'm Nash 'Emily' Daniels." He leans closer to Tia to whisper to her, "Err, call me Emily, okay?"

"Um, okay. My name is Tia Rina. Call me Tia."

Murmurs could be heard from them as they replied together.

"So, Tia will be joining us tonight and now it's time for us to order food," Kei announced.

"Yes, food!" Xavier said loudly.

Nash ordered beef burger but found out that it was sold out. He stomped his foot hard, slipped and fell down in front of everyone. Even though people laughed at him, he only straightened his glasses and said, "Never mind."

The young people talked and talked through dinner, having a good time. Ho Weng, Shane and Xavier always teased Fara about something, making her squeal in annoyance most of the time. Myra and Ayumi tried to calm her down. Tia had fun watching them.

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"Wow, being with you is great, Tia!" Myra tells her.

"Yes, I had a great time myself."

"Okay, goodnight, Tia. Mr. Himaru, why don't you be a gentleman and escort her back to the PC?" Xavier said, half meaning to tease him.

"Gah, stop using that tone of voice when you talk about me and Tia!" he growled.

Turning away, Shane and Xavier whispered to each other, glancing at Kei and Tia and snickered. Then, they slapped each other a high five.

"They're _obviously_ talking about us..." he grumbled.

"Never mind them... At least _we_ know it's not true..." Tia said. "Goodnight, everybody!"

A chorus of 'Goodnight's were heard. With that, Kei walks with Tia back to the Pokemon Center while the others headed home in different directions. Even though the night is fading, Mauville City is still as lively as a market in the morning. They could see many people streaming through the roads of Mauville. He bids goodbye to her once they had reached the Pokemon Center. She goes inside her room and falls asleep immediately when her head touches the pillow.

* * *

Author's note : Thanks to my friends for holding these characters (according to appearance) ; 

**Fara Harper** – _Nur Farah Amira _(Farah)

**Xavier Pierre** – _Muhammad Xyriel Iman _(Xyriel)

**Myra Armada** – _Nur Amira Amanina _(Amira)

**Ayumi Miharu** – _Siti Mas Ayu _(Ayu)

**Shane Nichols** – _Muhammad Syaham _(Syaham)

**Li Ho Weng** – _Lew Wei Hung _(Wei Hung)

**Nash 'Emily' Daniels** – _Muhammad Narul Amalie _(Narul)


	14. Flaming Fury in the Fiery Path

Author's note : Hey, guys! Sorry for not updating! My computer had been struck by lightning and it took that long for my father to act... By the way, there are a few changes in Kei's friends' names (from the last chapter where I left off). You can check them out yourself, not really important, anyway... Well, on to the story.

* * *

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 14 – Flaming Fury in the Fiery Path

Early in the morning, Tia left Mauville City for Route 111. Before leaving, she had visited the Pokemon Day Care Center to say goodbye to the elderly Dent couple and the Pokemon Breeders who work there, including Kei. Today, everyone is going to exercise. All Pokemon are out of their PokeBalls and ready to begin their journey on foot.

Tia was frustrated that the Winstrate family wouldn't let her battle them just because they said her Pokemon are "still too young and inexperienced". She stomped pass the Trainer Hill building and asked Liner to Rock Smash the ragged rocks blocking her way. After a few minutes of quiet walking, her temper cooled down. Then, up ahead, she saw the desert of Route 111. The place where she had had her wings burned on purpose by a Devil Creed of a human named Benen Lakemine Vangurle.

She felt a sharp pain on her back the moment she thought of the incident. She was not sure whether the pain just now was only her imagination due to the dark memories of the past or it really was real. Either way, she decided to let go of the thought. She is not going to let the past haunt her in all her eternity life. Her Pokemon had noticed the change of expression in their Trainer's face. They all start to surround her and put on reassuring faces. They understand her pain and want to let her know that they'll all be by her side.

"Thanks... everyone..." she said with emotion.

Now that Tia had gotten over her painful memories, they all continued their journey. Not having the desire to go to Lavaridge, they did not get on the cable car. Their other option is going through the Fiery Path. Reaching the Fiery Path's entrance, Vagrant stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong, Vagrant?"

'S-snea-sel...' she replies, pointing to the Fiery Path.

'She dislikes the heat...' Aeroshadow said. 'And, really, to tell you the truth, me too... Let's make this trip to the end of the path a quick one.'

'Yena!' yapped Little Fang in agreement and Liner nodded.

Pyro, Fireworks, Bones and Cinder, on the other hand, are really excited to go inside. The Fiery Path is mainly a long path located underneath a large, live volcano that leads straight to Route 112. It is a haven to Fire-type Pokemon.

Fireworks is walking in the lead. Pyro stops for a while to pick something up.

'Hey, Fireworks! Think fast!' Pyro called as he threw a lava rock at him.

With fast reflexes, Fireworks turns and jumps in the air, only to catch the lava rock precisely in his mouth. He landed back proudly.

'Now, your turn!' he called back to Pyro.

He swung his head to throw the rock up and jumped again to hit the rock with his head over to Pyro's direction. Pyro holds his claws up to catch it but it easily flies over his head and is caught by Bones behind him. Cinder and Little Fang cheer for both Fireworks and Bones. Fireworks and Bones smirked at each other. Suddenly, Fireworks stopped walking.

'Hm? What is it?' Bones asked.

'Listen.'

'I hear it, too. Whining cries of a baby Pokemon...' Listening more intently, he pointed out the direction of the cries with his nose. 'This way.'

Then, Fireworks sees it. A tiny baby Numel stuck between rocks. He and Bones help it get out of its situation. The Numel is very small so it must have been very young. The question is, how did it get separated from its mother? Furthermore, this Numel is not exactly normal. Instead of having yellow and green colours on itself, this one is blue and tan-coloured. Bones runs back to Tia to tell her about the baby Numel they had just saved, leaving Fireworks with it.

The Numel seems to have a certain liking towards Fireworks, who usually doesn't interact well with Pokemon way younger than himself, especially new hatchlings. This time, though, Fireworks didn't mind the baby Numel snuggling close to his body.

Tia, Bones and the others came to him to see the little Numel next to him. Fireworks turns to see his friends having scared faces on. Tia gulps and stammers, "Uh, Bones, you said you two didn't see its mother... Well, I think, there she is now..." as she points to a full-height, 6-foot female Camerupt behind Fireworks.

Her massive size isn't the only factor why they should be afraid. Her two volcano-like skeletal humps on her back are erupting and steaming hot magma is pouring out endlessly out of them. Fireworks had never even thought of trying to explain to the mother Camerupt that he saved her young from staying stuck between some rocks.

"Run!" Tia shouted and took the baby Numel with her.

Vagrant turns to shoot out an Ice Beam at the Camerupt but failed. She is too dehydrated.

Everyone panics and runs in different directions. Aeroshadow flies off from Tia's shoulder and orders everyone to follow him. He leads them to a corner between two large boulders where everyone but the charging Camerupt could fit. Everyone scrambles into the cramped space in the corner as the Camerupt rams the boulders protecting them, hoping they'd break and crumble to pieces. The whole volcano almost seems possible to tumble down from the force inflicted by the Camerupt. The ceiling of the Fiery Path itself is shaking madly and showering them with some rocks and a few hardened lava stalactites.

For a second, everyone thought the boulders were really going to be smashed when they hear frequent cracking sounds. Once the protective mother stopped for a while to catch her breath, her baby Numel jumped down from Tia's arms. It wobbled unsteadily to its mother, who invited her son eagerly. She licked him a couple of times and stopped to hear her baby talk.

Obviously, the shiny Numel is telling his mother that Fireworks and Bones saved him. Her rage quieted down; her eyes softened, ridding it of the mad anger that clouded her eyes before and her volcanoes have stopped erupting lava.

Tia and her team relaxed their tensed muscles a bit. Fireworks made a brave move to creep closer to the mother and son. He gathered courage in himself to explain how he really found her son. To his relief, she did not snap at him in a sudden as he had expected. Instead, she listened carefully to what he has to say. Then, she replies something back to Fireworks. Tia gestured to Aeroshadow to translate her words.

'I apologize for how I've reacted... I was just... I guess I'm being over-protective after my first son had been taken by a human...'

'But Madam, our Trainer here is not a normal human. She is an angel from Heaven. She had no intention of stealing your son,' Fireworks explained.

The baby Numel walks back to Fireworks's side. His mother called him back gently but he refused to go to his mother. He wants to stay with Fireworks. The Camerupt is quiet for a long while. When she finally spoke up, she surprised everyone.

'I want you to take my son with you.'

'... Are you sure? Positive?'

'Yes, he's better off with you and your friends. I feel much easier knowing that an angel is looking after my son.'

Fireworks could sense the seriousness in her voice and her motherly love reminded him of his own mother, Fiona back in Johto. She did the same thing this Camerupt is doing. They both sacrificed their sons and trusted Tia with them. He knows, this Numel felt that his destiny is within Shadow Inferno, just like he did.

_'I think this Numel has potential of being a strong and loyal Shadow Inferno member,' _thought Fireworks to himself.

The shiny Numel licked his mother for the last time before venturing outside the Fiery Path with Shadow Inferno, inside his new PokeBall.

The bright sun is high above Tia's head, indicating that it's afternoon. Everyone is getting a little tired and hungry. They walk further, trying to ignore their fatigue and are relieved to see a small cottage, which is a rest house.

Tia didn't even have to knock on the door; an old lady had opened the door wide and welcomed them warmly.

"Oh, my, you all seem very tired! Come in, come in, and rest here as long as you'd like!" she said in a cheerful voice.

"Um, thanks but we don't want to burden you that much..."

"Oh, please, don't worry! My grandson and his friend are here to help me. They're visiting me here for the week. Wait, I'll go call them." She shouted their names, "Sam! Darren!"

In a few seconds, two teenage boys come down from the stairs, arguing about something.

"Why won't you just shave your ugly goatee, Darren?"

"I just won't! Stop bothering me about it!"

They stopped when they see Tia and her Pokemon at the door with the old lady.

"Child, this is my grandson, Sam. And this here's his friend, Darren."

The two friends are like total opposites. Sam has white skin while Darren is dark-skinned. Sam has a black T-shirt on with a roaring Aerodactyl skull picture on it and baggy shorts with chains hanging from them. He has a few piercing on his ears and his pair of glasses on his head. His brownish hair seems unkempt and messy. Darren is dressed smartly in a plain yellow T-shirt and jeans. His jet-black hair is well-kept and combed to one side. It might have been hard for someone to believe these two are best friends.

"Hi, I'm Tia Rina. My Pokemon and I just need somewhere to rest for a while."

"Then you've come to the right place!" Darren said. "Do come in! You're just in time for lunch."

After a feast of traditional Japanese dishes, Tia helped the old lady clean up. Then, she goes outside with her Pokemon for some light training. Aeroshadow watches in amusement as Fireworks and Bones teamed up to form rings of fire and jump through them. Pyro and Vagrant are sparring with some physical moves. Little Fang is warming up before running. Liner is telling Cinder ways to sneak up to fast opponents. In his demonstration, she successfully pecked a tuft of his sleek fur even when he was on full speed.

Tia observes each of her team member's moves carefully. Sam and Darren come to watch.

"Cool, my first impression of your Pokemon was that they weren't this amazing..." Sam said to Tia.

Tia ignores the comment and walks to Little Fang's side, who is panting heavily now. She takes out a bottle of water out of her backpack and offers it to Little Fang. She nods eagerly and Tia tilts the bottle so that the water drips down into Little Fang's mouth. She then licks her muzzle and leans down to lick her ruffled chest.

"How's your howl coming, Little Fang?" Tia asks sweetly.

The young Poochyena stretches her neck and lets out a whiny howl. Embarrassed, she slumps down and flattens her ears. Bones, who had just stopped his training, trots over to Little Fang. His face is expressionless. Little Fang glanced a bit at him and prepared herself for his usual insults about her howl. Strange as it seems, he is not there to insult her. He lowers his head and licks her cheek, assuring.

'You have improved.'

Quickly, he turns his back on her and continues training with Fireworks. Little Fang was astonished.

'_He had never said something like that before…'_

Tia could see Little Fang's confused face. She strokes her head lightly and says, "Hey, maybe you should give him a chance…"

She looks back at Bones and thought, _'Maybe…'_


	15. Angel, come close to me

**Shadow Inferno**

Chapter 15 – Angel, come close to me

Tia leaves the rest house as early as possible. She had to convince Darren and the old lady that she must leave that evening. She plans to reach Fallarbor Town before dark. In order to reach there, she has to go through Route 113. This particular spot is usually showered by volcanic ashes from the volcano nearby. Sometimes Tia finds it hard to even see what's in front of her. As she pushes her way through the ash-covered tall grass, she seems to be leaving a trail behind her when the ash had been brushed off. Once she is out of the volcanic ash zone, she looks down at herself and sees her whole body covered in black ash.

A little more in front of her are small fields of sprouting hardy trees that even thrive in volcanic ashes. They look like they have just been planted recently. She is relieved to see Fallarbor's Pokemon Center in view. She could not wait to get a room and give herself a good wash. Now she can see the sun setting into the horizon. She reaches the Pokemon Center in time.

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As usual, Tia and her Pokemon leaves in the morning. Tia walks pass the Fossil Maniac's House and entered Route 114 where the ground is dull in colour and high rocky ledges and canyons are everywhere. She feels unusually happy today. To brighten her mood, a few Swablus perching on some trees chirped and sang over the crashing sounds of a waterfall.

Putting her hands on her hips, she said to Aeroshadow on her shoulder, "Hey, could you, Liner and Vagrant train the younger ones in the tall grass here? I want to go see Lanette, a friend. I want her to install a few programs on my laptop for our convenience."

'Yes, of course.'

Seeing her Pokemon disappear into the tall grass, she then turns to a house situated right there in Route 114. Lanette really is a computer genius. Tia plans to have some of her useful systems on her laptop to transfer captured Pokemon to her PC anytime, anywhere. She knocks on the door. No one is answering.

"_She must be really into her work right now…"_

Tia tries knocking harder and calling Lanette's name but there is still no answer. She finally decided that she is not home.

"_I'll just wait for the Pokemon to come out, with their training done."_

She sits down on the lush green mat spread out in front of her. After a few boring minutes, she lies down and stares at the big blue sky. Without really knowing it, she starts singing.

"Sasayaki ame oto,  
Chikaku de yureteru kage,  
Yubi saki wo suri nukeru,  
Ima kumo wa nagereteku,  
Kabe no eni,  
Kagakaki ga mezameru yo,  
Hold me, kikasete,  
Angel, come close to me,  
Yasashii himede,  
Kanaete hoshii…"

One by one, Swablus are gathering around her to hear her sing. Some of them even sing together with her, forming a chorus. Tia begins to sing louder.

"Itami mo warukunai,  
Nukumori kanjiru nara,  
Tomei ni nare sou de,  
Fuchiu wo awasetara,  
Itsumademo itsumademo,  
Kono mama de…"

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He is pushing his way through the wild tall grass. He stops in his tracks suddenly. He seems to hear a distant-sounding singing voice. He immediately guessed that the singer is a lady. Somehow, he is going towards the singing voice. There is an unexplained attraction to it, as if it's calling to him.

"_This song… it's like it's being sung just for me…"_

Soon, he sees her. Her black and red hair flowing with the wind that occasionally blows. Her face is carved perfectly with beautiful dark orbs and thin, soft lips to perfect it even more. He took a liking to her the moment he saw her. He almost seems hypnotised by her enchanting voice that echoes in his head. He stays to hear her finish her song.

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"Hold me, kikasete,  
Angel, come close to me,  
Yasashii himeni,  
Eitta jikan wo,  
Tooku tooku kaze ni fukarete,  
Zutto, zutto…"

She pauses to allow the Swablus sing and whistle their own choir, with her humming along before continuing,

"Hold me, kikasete,  
Angel come close to me,  
Yasashii himede,  
Sasaete hoshii yo,

Angel, come close to me,  
Let me know your truth,  
I want to change my tomorrow,  
Angel, make my dream come true,  
Fukaku fukaku hitomi no naka,  
Zutto, zutto,  
Kimi wo mitsumetai,

Zutto…"

She ends her song with a low voice. Somewhere nearby, she hears clapping sounds. From the tall grass emerges a teenager of about 17, still clapping his hands. The flock of Swablus flapped their wings in surprise. His black cape hangs down from his purple and yellow Dragon Tamer suit. An 'S'-shaped black serpentine symbol is crested on the right side of his suit. Running his fingers through his jet-black hair, he smiles and said, "Nice song."

Tia herself is shocked by his sudden appearance. She knows who this man is; Benen Lakemine Vangurle. There is a big difference about him, though. He does not have the same dark and disgraceful aura possessed by his Devil Creed. This is the real human form of Benen. Hiding her thoughts, she smiles back at him.

"_He's so similar to my enemy and yet so… different."_ Tia thought.

"Uh, hi. I'm Benen Lackem Vangel, short for Benen Lakemine Vangurle. I liked the song you sang just now…"

"Th-thanks… I'm Tia Rina… Flaire."

"_Incognito!" _warned her conscious.

Ignoring that thought, she continued, "Um, glad you liked the song… I didn't think it was very good…"

"No way, you had a voice like an angel… Tia."

That comment made her conscious chuckle to herself, _"He has no idea…"_

He comes to sit down next to Tia. They talk about various topics but under their certain personal reasons, they try to avoid topics about their real selves.

"So, do you come here often to sing?" asks Benen.

"No, I had just started a journey with my Pokemon team from Fortree City. I specialise in Fire and Dark types. Are you often here, as well?"

"You can say that. I'm here to catch myself a Swablu."

Tia turns and whistles a short tune to one of the Swablus. One came and perches on her outstretched arm. She shows it to Benen.

"Here's one for you, then."

Benen was surprised at her ease in calling a completely wild Swablu just like that.

"Go on, take it, Benen. Think of this as a… gift from me as we had just met each other."

"Thanks," said Benen and called the Swablu to come to him.

It obediently flies onto his head. Tia giggles.

"You look like you're wearing a cotton hat!"

Benen smiled a lopsided smile. He likes hearing her giggle. They were like a chorus of ringing church bells.

"I may not have a specific gift for you but…" He starts to lean closer to Tia. "I can give you… this…"

She blushes but allows him to come closer nevertheless. At this time, she completely ignores the fact that he looks exactly like the person who caused the loss of her wings. Her heart beats rapidly as he slowly nears her. Their faces are already a few inches away when a shout is heard somewhere very close, stopping Benen's action.

"Boss! Hey, boss, where are you?"

Benen shut his eyes tightly and cursed violently in his mind. The Swablus, hearing the sudden shout panicked and took off in different directions. A lot of them hit the two Trainers. Failing to stop them from hitting her, Tia lost her balance and falls down but Benen catches her just in time. Now, Tia is positioned on top of Benen, whose arms are around her waist. Their faces are now only an inch away.

Another teenage boy comes out of the tall grass. He attired himself in green shirt and pants with yellow lined markings at the sides. He also wears an aviation cap and a pair of goggles. He seems to be holding something behind his back. He looks directly at Tia and Benen.

"Boss! I've been looking all over for you and here you are, making out with a girl?!" he exclaimed loudly.

The two teenagers, embarrassed, got up quickly. Benen stomps to the other guy and punched him hard on his head.

"Ow! Boss, I didn't m-!"

Another punch quickly shut him up. Benen points a finger to the tall grasses, gesturing that he waits for him there. Without another word, in fear of being hit again, he retreats back into the tall grass. Benen turns back to Tia and says,

"I have to go…"

"Um, o-okay… Maybe, we'll meet again…" she stuttered. Her heart is still beating fast from being so close to Benen just now.

"Someday, we may." He puts a hand on her left cheek. "Goodbye, Tia."

After having his final words escape his lips, he lifts his hand from her face and disappears back into the tall grasses.

"Goodbye, Benen…"

A drop of pure tear slid down her cheek, where he touched it. She had never felt this way before. Is that why she is crying?


End file.
